Traditional uses of music in Christian worship services

Essay Sample on Drugs and Pharm Industry What Is Its Cost

Essay Sample on Drugs and Pharm Industry What Is Its Cost The cost involved in the discovery, manufacturing and marketing effective drugs has increased during the past few decades. More and more disease conditions are studied and research and development has become more competitive in Pharma industry. In addition to the cost, the safety and effectiveness of the industry has been tightly regulated by the federal agencies which obliges the industry to make safe drugs to tackle wide variety of disease conditions. Therefore the role of technology in providing a competitive edge in research and development is more important in today’s pharmaceutical sector. Many of the drugs that have been approved are small molecule inhibitors of proteins that targets disease conditions. From the discovery to the development of an inhibitor, it takes 3 – 5 years of intensive research. The present high throughput technology has revolutionized the process of discovery. It involves design of high throughput assays that are capable of testing the potency of more than 50 inhibitors in a day. The kinetic parameters involved in the reaction are studied initially and based on this the protein of interest is reacted with its subsequent substrates along with the potential inhibitors. Assays are then read using radioactive, bio luminescence or chemical read-outs and the data is analyzed for each inhibitors. High throughput screening technology has significantly reduced the time involved in the early discovery of potent inhibitors and hence the cost. Information technology has been another driving force in cutting the cost in the global pharmaceutical industry. In today’s industrial practices, it has become very imperative for the pharma companies to conduct clinical trials in many different countries. It enables them to maintain their competitive edge in the industry. Information technology could play a lead role in this in future. Due to the extensive clinical trials, today’s industry faces a huge cost involved in conducting such trails. Flow of information is one of the major hurdles. In future, all the sites will be remotely connected and the whole flow of the process will be controlled by one main site. In addition, this will also provide transparency to the federal agencies.

Literature review Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Literature review - Research Paper Example 119). In light with this, Cauffman suggested that effective prevention efforts should be put in place in a bid to meet the mental health needs for at-risk female offenders. Cauffman advocated for community-based treatment programs that would improve individual outcomes. However, although such a program would be effective towards this effect, a more comprehensive approach needs to be deliberated upon. In fact, it is true to argue that a community based program can be a good accompaniment of prerelease programs. Prerelease programs help incarcerated persons realize that it is their mistakes that have lead to their incarceration. Therefore, through these programs, they get advice on how to abstain from crime. When they get out of prison, community based programs enhances good behavior and highlights on various ways through which they can coexist with other members of the community without committing crimes. In their article, Barbara, et al (2010) noted that studies have documented that incarcerated persons have high rates of psychological disorders. In fact, they contended that nearly 70% of female offenders are affected by depression. In this regard, it is apparent that there therefore an obvious necessity to have a variety of treatment programs. However, according to Barbara, et al (2010), available treatment options do not seem to favor female offenders with physical and psychological problems. This can be argued to be correct because, for example, while cognitive behavioral therapy is used with male offenders, it is incomplete on the side of female offenders who have multidimensional issues ranging from emotional to relational factors. Rationale for effective behavioral modification programs for female offenders Studies have documented that women tend to generally show positive responses to most intervention methods that have been specifically designed to decrease some negative feelings such as guilt with the intention of increasing their levels of self esteem . One of such methods is group counseling. This can be used to address issues such as gender-specific addiction, family relations, and self esteem among many others. Group counseling seems to be effective for female offenders because females are intrinsically motivated to connect with others. Many female offenders have a sense of disconnection, marginalization, isolation, something that lead to hopelessness (Gaines & Miller, 2011). In this regard, group counseling in the prison setting would help female offenders to share different experiences that can help in motivating them. Valerie, et al (2009) in their article noted that many cases of delinquency have histories of exposure to violence, abuse, and neglect. Valerie, et al (2009) also acknowledged that over 60% of girls in the juvenile justice system have at one time been victims of several forms of abuse. In addition, they also noted that a study carried out in the California juvenile justice system found that 92% of female offen ders had unfortunately been victim to some form of not only emotional abuse, but also in some cases, they were also victims of physical and/ or sexual abuse. Therefore, with such deliberations, group counseling would offer emotional support in the effort to manage stress. Delinquency behavior acquired as a result of exposure to such issues would be challenged in group sessions whereby each member of the group expresses their

Open manufacturing plant in Mexico Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Open manufacturing plant in Mexico - Assignment Example herefore, the Packenham Model enhances the efficient and effective evaluation of the economic and political environment of Mexico for utmost economic reform. The Packenham Model explains four hypotheses that enable Mexico to make successful economic reforms. The first hypothesis is the Structure of Situation for the Elected President (Political Credentials of President). A President having negative credentials or bad motives will hinder implementation of successful economic reforms. The Mexican president, Enrique Pena Nieto of the Partido Revolucionario Institutional is a legitimate president with positive credentials. He focuses on the implementation of the ambitious structural reforms and reactivating economic growth after poor start thus enhancing initiation of a successful economic reform. The second hypothesis is the Political Party System (Fragmented vs. Consolidated). The political party system of Mexico is fragmented since it has more than one party. The ruling party faces high resistance from the opposition during implementation of reforms especially in the energy sector. The third hypothesis is the Presidential Leadership (Lead ership Skill). President Pena Nieto is politically skillful hence; he is able to convince the congress into making useful reforms. Finally, Consensus in Civil Society- the Mexicans are often in favor of market reforms and there is low resistance. Therefore, there is utmost implementation of market reforms with ease. It is evident that the economic and political environment of Mexico is conducive for utmost implementation of market reforms as justified by the Packenham Model above. Bargaining power refers market forces that determine the prices of the commodities. Bargaining involves negotiation of prices between the buyers and the sellers of goods and services. The firm should set the prices that are suitable for the consumer and is friendly to the producer through the bargaining power. If the company imposes the charge to the

Racial Stereotyping in Advertising

Racial Stereotyping in Advertising When advertising occurs in television you can see how leading companies of the world try to attract persons for them to buy their products, but sometimes instead of bringing them incomes, the ads, in which they invert a lot of money, bring them a little more than money and attention, they bring them serious problems. No one can deny the incredible power mass has, but the problem of this is that while more powerful something is the more it can gain attention, from babies to adults, all of them can get easily the attention required not just to buy things, also unconsciously to build stereotypes towards people. During the past decade the media has become a great format of expressing ideas to the people, but this advertising sometimes can perpetuate racism and can also create sub conscience among the mass. No one can deny that the television is the major advertising technique that the companies have now a day, according to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year). In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube (http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tvhealth.html).In a study made by that same company, (A.C. Nielsen Co.) you can observe that a normal person that lived at least 65 years in his life time would have at least seen 2 million commercials over his lifetime (http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tvhealth.html).This previous statistics show us perfectly how the television has an amazing way to spread ideas trough the whole world, but the problem is when the ideas spreading to the world include stereotypes that can hurt certain group of people. Afro-Americans, Asians, popular public figures, all of these groups are common target to stereotypes. S ome people may say whatÂÂ ´s the big deal about all this stuff? Yeah there have always been people treating bad Afro-Americans, so? Stereotypes toward Afro-American persons have always been a great deal, they have really been. Since they came to America they have been discriminated, most of all because of their dark color, maybe this seems a problem, but a bigger problem is when huge companies such as Intel (Computer company) make racist ads that are not even worth sending them to the media. In July 2007 Intel made a public campaign on television were a white man stands while six color athletes are bowing down to him, the ad of course was removed from National television, and it appears that it has also been removes from internet, since it cant be found anywhere, the only thing that can be find is a promotional picture of the add. This add made a lot of critics from customers and from the media, it even lead to Intel asking for public apologies in their own website, We are sincerely sorry and have identified specific steps covering heightened cultural sensitivity, our review and approval process, and just using more common sense to ensure that this does not happen again. (Don Mac Donald, http://www.intel.com/news/sprintad.htm) Using ads that perpetuate racial stereotypes did not go to good to Intel since they even had to make an apology publicly that today is still visible to any people who wants to see it( http://gawker.com/284292/intel-ad-stupid-or-stupid-and-racist). As well as Intel, but with more luck, Asian Toothpaste Company named Auulws made also a racist add towards Afro-American, with the only difference that this one made a direct comparison between a black man and a new on market black toothpaste. The add in this case sends us a message directly, not all black things are bad (comparing it to a black men), buy our new black toothpaste. It sure sounds to racist to even be used in television but it really did, and it did not create too much controversy in Asia maybe because they found the ad funnier than racist. At last this company was the one winning because of the success of the innovative product ( http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/racist-toothpaste-commercial). The commercial you just read was made by Asians, but as well as they make stereotypes of people in U.S, people in the U.S make stereotypes of them like the one Whiskas (Company that sells cat food) made about 3 years ago, the ad shows how an American man fools an Asiatic woman that seems to be stupid in the commercial. The message that Whiskas successfully give to the public is that Asian cat food is bad, and that Asian woman are stupid (http://www.adsavvy.org/25-most-racist-advertisements-and-commercials/) Every culture, group of people or however you want to call it can be a victim of this strong way of making stereotypes in television, even the strongest persons on earth such as the president of the United States, Barack Obama. In a commercial made by the Japanese mobile company, Emobile, you can see president Barack Obama being compared to a monkey, this ad was banned in several days due to the strong humor the Japanese try to show in television (http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/japans-emobiles-commercial-depicts-obama-as-a-monkey-racist-or-just-a-commercial/question-809365/?page=2). Television is a very strong form of communication as you can see, and all of this is because of the large part of society it can get to. Even tough, there are other advertising techniques that are very powerful because of their accessibility to the people, there is just one specifically that doesnt need you to pay to see it (such as television or newspaper) and this are the billboards. The billboards are the second most important form of advertising as they get to the 93% of the population in the city where it is shown. Actually in America an amount of 5.5 billion dollars are used in billboards annually, and this quantity is expected to grow even more in the next years. This means that the billboards are a great way to reach people if you are talking of advertising. (http://www.businessknowledgesource.com/marketing/using_billboards_for_marketing_026351.html). The billboards may seem very good way of advertising, but this good way of advertising is also a good way of advertising stere otypes toward groups of people such as what Sony did in 2006. In 2006 in the Netherlands Sony(technology manufacturing corporation) was promoting the new PSP(Play Station Portable) of color white and may have not done it the correct way. They use a white woman to represent a white psp and she is aggressively holding the head of the black men (black psp). The peculiar billboard Sony used to promote the white PSP was used in over 100 billboards all over Netherlands. After the ads were taken of Sony did not really defend themselves, instead they just respond The marketing campaign for the launch of the White PSP in the Benelux focuses on the contrast between the Black PSP model and the new Ceramic white PSP model.(SonyÂÂ ´s CEO). The polemic billboard from Sony of course caused some boycotts of buying the white ceramic PSP, but after some time the things calm down. This of course taught Sony a lesson the bad way. (http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/06/sony-under-fire-for-racist-advertising/). The advertising over the years have been a great deal since advertising is publicity and publicity is money. As a matter of fact, the racist stereotypes shown on media are not just to black, Asian, or powerful people they can apply to any person in earth. The racism in media is not the only problem in the media, there are also some other problems in the media that can affect society. Thankfully there are several groups that defend racism and the content that the adds can display on the advertising such as the ITC (short for International Television Control) or the CEOUSA (Central for Equal Opportunity). The ITC has experience controlling the Television Advertising since 1990.The ITC doesnt just control the Television advertising in some parts of the United States, it also does this labor in the United Kingdom. This organization is responsible for banning advertising on the television that are not morally correct for the society in certain regions, they are the main reason that announcements affecting racial stereotypes do not last in air to long. (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/itc/itc_publications/itc_notes/view_note64.html) By the other hand the CEOUSA sponsors conferences, supports research and publishes ads on issues promoting equitacy, ethnicity, assimilation and public policy. CEOUSA focuses on three areas in particular: racial preferences, immigration, and assimilation and multicultural education. There can be lots of more groups even more than this ones promoting the anti racism, we can know that, but other thing we know is that there are also a lot of people who can still be making racist advertising. In the world what talks the most is the money, all advertisings are made with money to get more money that is how it really works. From huge companies like Sony to very small companies such as Auulws, all need to make advertising to sell their products. Until there all goes alright, the problem is when they start messing with some culture, race, gender, or nationality. When that happens some people start to indignate and the awesome idea some guy had for selling more things converts to a really big controversy throughout all the internet, television, and news. However, at last the ones that make this continue or not are us, the consumers are the ones who decide if this type of advertising continues or not. Many times unconsciously we support this by buying products because of some funny ad we saw and that we did not know that it perpetuated racial stereotypes. So how I say at last the ones that make this continue or stop are us, and just us, the consumers.

Boom of Credit Cards

Credit cards have become such a familiar feature of the life style in the world that it is difficult to imagine a consumer economy functioning without them. The credit cards are nowadays the most convenient of all types of payments. The boom of the credit card industry has affected everyone in the world of the â€Å"plastic money†. That was the name given to the credit card right after it was invented. Nowadays, the â€Å"plastic money† occupies a very important place in the economy of the country. â€Å"Settlements indicates that the number of credit cards in circulation increased 34 percent between 1988†¦.. The data also show that the value of credit card transactions increased 98 percent during the same period† (Yoo, p. s. 1997). A lot of reasons explain the fact that the credit cards are holding the most important place in the wallet and purses today. Behind these reasons , is hiding a crucial social phenomenon that has very bad consequences in the country, credit card abuse. Despite the measures taken by the officials, statistics prove that the number is increasing everyday. Today, Visa and Master card occupy an important place in the credit card marketplace but the pioneer in the business remains to be Diners Club. In 1949, as the luncheon tables were cleared at the Major†s Cabin Grill, a popular New York restaurant of the period whose location next door of the Empire State Building was then a considerable asset, three men sat huddled over a prime table off to one side †¦. In their excitement, they called over Major, the proprietor and asked him how much he would pay for business that he would not ordinarily get. Without flinching, Major replied â€Å"7 percent† , number that established a major industry (Lewis, 1990). ` Those three men were Alfred Bloomingdale, Frank Mc Namara and Ralph Snyder. They conceived a plan for a new type of credit card. Unlike the retail and gas credit cards, which were restricted in use to those industries, theirs would be â€Å"universal† card that allowed its holders to purchase goods and services at different places across the country. An industry was born, Diners Club As a matter of fact, the period right before the First World War, was the first year for a new industry, the credit card industry. Those first credit cards were not really credit cards as they are today because they served only for limited needs. They could be used only on a very low level. The use of credit cards by retailers began in 1914†³ (Lewis, 1990). Since that date there was an inconceivable growth of credit card production. Prior to World War I, few hotels, oil companies and department stores issued credit cards. Then in 1931 the airline companies introduced the credit cards in their business (Lewis, 1990). The evolution and the expansion of the card went lide the speed of light. The most important step was the introduction of the credit card to the Internet in the 90†³s. Today, Web servers enable payments by credit card. A credit card transaction over the Internet is one of the most common types of payment. If a merchant has an account with a merchant bank that offers Internet credit card processing, he would be able to accept credit card payment over the Internet (http://search. netscape. com). â€Å"There was an increase of $78 billion over 1994, in just one short year. We†ve been tracking it since 1980, and we†ve never seen that kind of increase before. † (Glenn, 1984, pp. 857-68). What are the reasons that explain the fast increase of the use of the credit cards? As one reason that might explain the phenomenon, some people may think that carrying a credit card is much easier than having cash or a checkbook in their wallets or purses. There is no doubt that the â€Å"plastic money† doesn†t bother in a wallet or a purse because of its tiny size. Another reason that may explain the credit card fever is that it allows its holders to spend the money they haven†t got yet. Actually, it looks like free money, although it really isn†t. That is the case of the college students who have credit cards and whose parents will pay the debt their child has created. The strongest argument that could be also the main reason the t explains the increasing number of credit card transactions is that a lot of low income-persons are carrying â€Å"plastic money† and are using it widely but not wisely. When the time for paying off the balance due comes, a lot of people do not have enough money to clear their bills. Here is the beginning of a cycle that probably will never stop (Kathy and Bill B. â€Å"s case) until the credit card company or the banks realize that their customer†s debt is growing every month. Before any reaction of the creditors, the debt has reached an unbelievable amount. As a result of a non-payment of the bills, the problems in the credit card industry began. In addition to lost or stolen cards and billing errors, an uncontrollable phenomenon was born in the industry, fraud. Two major aspects determine the fraud in the industry, stolen cards and the black market created around the â€Å"plastic money. † In fact, counterfeiting credit cards has taken an important turn during the 60s. As expected, not long after they had instituted the unsolicited credit card programs in the late 1960s, the bank began to experience significant losses due to fraud (Lewis, 1990). Statistics prove how fast the fraud went up in the industry. In 1964, the U. S. Post Office investigated only fifteen cases of credit card fraud. Four years later, in 1968, that figure shot up to 360, and the following year, it more than doubled to 762. In 1970, Andrew Brimmer, one of the Federal Reserve Board†s seven governors, showed that bank charge card losses had increased 50 percent that year to $115. 5 million or $3. 4 percent of $3. 4 billion in outstanding credit card debt (Lewis 1990). In 1971, the Los Angeles Police Department made public its first reported of counterfeiting credit cards. The counterfeiters, two women and one man who apparently had knowledge of at least one bank numbering system used authentic blank cards stock to succeed their operation (Lewis, 1990). The very fast assumption of the abuse in the credit card industry made the banks and the credit card companies think about finding solutions that could stop this terrible phenomenon. Since the major source of losses in the industry was stolen cards, it was very hard for the credit card companies to find a solution that would stop fraud. The fraud in the credit cards industry had had an important impact in the economy of the United States such as financial losses. In 1973 alone, credit cards losses were estimated to be $288 million-or 1015 percent of the total credit card sales (Lewis, 1990). The delinquency rate has risen four quarter in a row for the first time since 1991†¦.. At the end of 1991, $3. 4of every $100 owed on credit card was delinquent, up eight percent from 1994 (Business Journal of Charlotte, 1996). Whose responsibility was it? In large part, the banks themselves were responsible for their continuing losses. In their desire to market their cards as actively as possible, they were reluctant to tarnish the image go the credit card by publicizing stories of thefts and losses , so they hid the information not to alarm potential cardholders(Lewis, 1990, p. 8). The government may be held responsible as well because the government issues cards to the members for government travel expenses only. Unfortunately, those cards have been used for the purchase of liquors, jewelry and flowers (Fritz, S. 1996, March 16). That is another â€Å"ugly face† of credit card abuse. The people who were supposed to help the country to overcome the problems abuse intensify the situation. As the industry was growing, the banks and the credit card industries did not think of any alternative that would stop an eventual fraud in the industry. The lack of management was one of the major sources of the problem. As one solution that had to be found, the credit cards companies invented the secured credit card that allows the customer to spend not more than what he or she has in his or her bank saving account. That seemed to be a good solution to stop the fraud but criminals are so good that they devised ways to tap into potentially lucrative market. By the mid 1970†³s, the credit card companies installed their own law enforcement to fight credit card fraud, the Association of Credit Card Investigators (ACCI). The role of this unit o the credit card companies was to have a better management of the growing number of customers. One measure initiated by the ACCI that proved effective was a combination of a post mailer with dual dating on the credit card. A dual dating enables the credit card Company to delay the effective starting date of the card until after it should have been received by the cardholder. The post mailer informed the intended cardholder that a card had been mailed to him or her and that the credit card Company should be notified if it had not yet been received. As a result to the important measures taken by the credit cards companies, 75% drop in fraud in the first years (Ventura, 1992). Another preventive measure adopted by the credit cards companies was a warning bulletin alerting the banks and merchants to fraudulent cards. All the major credit cards companies did not approve this kind of measure. On one hand, American Express, Diners Club felt that the warning bulletins were necessary to control fraud as well as the misuse of cards by delinquents and overspenders. On the other hand, Visa took the position that warning bulletins were not necessary and that sending postcard was enough. Statistics proved later that Visa was losing a higher percentage of its charge volume from fraud than American Express and diners Club(Lewis, 1990). The solution on the federal level would be an abolishment of the government credit card system as suggested republican George W. Gekas (R-Pa)(Los Angeles Times, 1996, March 16). In spite of the tough measures taken by the banks and the credit card companies, losses due to fraud continued throughout the 70s. As the 80†³s approached, the credit card companies overcome most of the legal and operational problems such as billing errors and the development of an efficient nationwide up-to-the-minute authorization system. A wide laws and regulations system now govern the functioning of the industry but still the fraud is inevitable. This number is still increasing due to the corruption of our society. The only way you can help to stop this is by changing the whole system. But then there will be some people who will pursue their illegal actions, and will find a way to abuse other systems also.

Political Attitude

Essay #3 Emily Sawyer Civics and Economics H: Mr. Gain 3rd block 10/28/11 An individual’s political attitude can transpire from many sources. These sources can be identified as one’s Personal Background, the media’s influence, and an individual’s claimed opinion. Personal Background has a large effect on a person’s political attitude because it includes family, experiences in a person’s life, and that person’s age. People become accustomed to their own lives, and don’t realize how much every little thing about you makes you who you are.Political attitude can be based on what an individual’s family has been telling them about the United States Government, but these things parents are telling their children, are the parent’s outlooks and attitudes. Such as a person who grew up with a full family of Republicans will most likely be a Republican. It’s almost like their family brainwashed them into having an exclu sive political perspective. People can develop a political attitude through the experiences in their life such as where that person grew up as a child, or their family’s economic class.A person who grew up in the southern states might be influenced to be a republican because in recent elections, southern state’s votes such as Alabama and Georgia’s came out as Republican. Age can also play a role in this because as everything changes and everyone changes, as so do times. Important events that would influence a person’s political view occur at different times. Media plays a role in the influence of political attitudes of American citizens today because within the last 50 years, there has been a significant advancement in technology.First there was the telegraph, then the radio, the newspaper, magazines, television and now the internet. A regular person wakes up in the morning and either reads the newspaper or a magazine, or some type of news. So, just becau se one article says something about their political view, a person who often reads and agrees with the magazine might start thinking the same thing. Again, some type of brainwashing. In work we usually know what we have to do based on our experiences and studies, however in our daily lives we rely on the media to get the current news and facts about what is important and what we should be aware of.An individual’s opinion is usually a combination of everything they know on the subject and what they are told and are willing to believe. So, our decisions, beliefs and values are based on what we know for a fact, our assumptions and our own experience. An individual’s political attitude can transpire from many sources. These sources can be identified as one’s Personal Background, the media’s influence, and an individual’s claimed opinion. A person’s political outlook can also change due to many of these things.