Market Intervention Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Market Intervention - Essay Example The prime argument for the initiation of minimum wages has been the removal of economic disparity. As it has been observed time and again that the poor workers have been deprived of the minimum facilities and benefits by the employers all over the globe, the concept of minimum wages aimed to end the economic oppression. United Kingdom has not been an exception either. It was in the year of 1999 that the government of United Kingdom (led by the Labour Party) introduced the minimum wage. The initiation of the ‘National Minimum Wage’ is considered as one of the most significant interventions by the government in the labour market. The other major party of the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party which opposed the minimum wage previously in 1991, also vouched for the cause since 2005. The major objective of the minimum wages has been the rise of standard of living of the working class of the society (Center for Economic Performance, â€Å"Policy Analysis†). Prior to the implementation of minimum wages, the concerned quarters of the industry speculated that the installation of minimum wages might reduce up to two million of jobs alone in the market of United Kingdom. It was so predicted because it was estimated that the employers will reduce the number of posts as they would have to pay minimum wages for any new employment and therefore, they would rather try to extract more work from those who already have higher wage. But the various research reports prepared in the subsequent years proved such speculation to be impractical as there was no reported news of spillover. The implementation of minimum wage proved to be extremely beneficial to the female workforce of the United Kingdom. Also, it was observed that the implementation of such wage structure contributed to increase of wage for about 5% to 6% of the workforce of the United Kingdom during the initial years.

Discussion Board Questions Essay Example for Free

Discussion Board Questions Essay 1. Ecological Approach: The work of the Chicago School and the impact of that perspective had a profound effect on research methods. What aspects of the ecological approach could be applicable today and why? Examples would be excellent! (You may have to search a bit for this. Please use not only our text, but do internet searches as well. ) The work of the Chicago School is even more useful in today’s society than it was when it was first pioneered, primarily because those efforts enabled the increased access we have to relevant information now, such as education levels, income levels, crime rates, etc. Most importantly, our world is growing rapidly, and the ability to track what problems a city has, and where, can help us to find effective solutions to those problems. For example, if research indicates that a certain area of the city has a higher high-school dropout rate, efforts to keep kids in school can be increased in those neighborhoods. The ecological approach maintains the paradoxical stance that a society has problems because its individual members have problems, but its members have problems because the society has problems. Thus, we must find solutions that work on both levels, which is essentially where the focus of the ecological approach lies. In addition, this allows us to address prevention issues. If we can map trends and growth, then we can put measures in place to effectively solve a problem before it occurs. A prime example of this is public education – projecting growth based on current trends could allow a school district to budget accordingly and thus reduce the financial strain that comes with unexpected expenses. On another level, being able to identify the demographic that will be growing in the school population can help educators to better address those students’ needs. 2. Stanford Prison Simulation: Look for some of the information on the Stanford Prison Simulation. Phillip Zimbardo maintains a website for the experiment, linking it to contemporary issues like the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib during US military action in Iraq. Please look at this website http://www. prisonexp. org and provide your reactions in terms of the legitimacy of this kind of research. Feel free to be TOTALLY HONEST. As far as the legitimacy of this kind of research goes, the reactions and psychological effects are surely genuine. However, ethical and moral values clearly indicate that research such as the Stanford Prison Simulation should not be undertaken. As professionals holding a position of trust, we have an ethical obligation to do only that which will benefit those whom we seek to help – and this is definitely harming people. From a moral standpoint as well, the information obtained was not worth the cost to the participants’ psychological health. Several studies have been done regarding the effects of imprisonment on actual prison inmates and guards, and history provides numerous real-life examples of exactly what the researchers found in the Stanford Prison Simulation. Take, for instance, survivors’ accounts of WWII concentration camps. Therefore, this project was entirely unnecessary. Basic human understanding tells us that when people are placed in highly stressful situations, where their basic human rights may be threatened or taken away, they will react in potentially volatile ways, and as a result, their psychological health will suffer. This is evident in prisoners and guards alike – the prisoners’ freedom is taken away, they rebel, causing the guards to feel that their personal safety is threatened, so they take away more freedoms – it is a cycle. However, this should be common sense and research should focus on ways to resolve these issues instead of trying to figure out why it happened. We know why it happened – because they’re human.

HPV Infection and Associated Cancers

HPV Infection and Associated Cancers 1.0 Introduction Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted virus that is spread through genital and skin-to-skin contact [1]. Its infection is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world [1] and accounts for 561200 representing 5.2% of all cancer cases worldwide [2, 3]. Over 290 million HPV infections are recorded worldwide annually [4] and the prevalence of HPV vary from 14% to over 90% [5]. Currently, over 170 HPV-types have been identified and designated with numbers [6-8] and at least forty are transmitted through genital contact [9]. The virus can also be transmitted through skin-to-skin sexual contact (regardless of penetration), mucous membranes or bodily fluids, oral sex and mutual masturbation (genital fondling) [10]. HPV affects only humans [11]. When the HPV virus comes in contact with human cells, it may bring about changes to the cell called lesions which may lead to the development of tumors [6]. High-risk HPV-types (hrHPV) (aka oncogenic HPV-types) are able t o incorporate themselves into the cell DNA and transform its behavior in a way that results in cancer whereas low-risk HPV-types (aka non-oncogenic HPV-types) do not cause cancer [10]. HPV infection is most common in young men and women in their teens and early 20s [11]. Authors of the HPV Infection and Transmission among Couples through Heterosexual activity (HITCH) cohort study reported an HPV infection of more than 56% in young adults in relatively new sexual relationships and more than half (44%) were infected with oncogenic HPV-types. In the early 2000s, about 6.2 million new cases of HPV infection were recorded in America of which 74% occurred in 15 to 24-year olds [12].   A systematic review of more than 40 studies by Dunne et al (2006) showed that HPV prevalence estimates vary from 1.3% to 72.9% amongst studies of multiple sites and 56% of them reported a prevalence of more than 20% [13]. Most HPV infections are asymptomatic and usually resolve on their own over the course of weeks [14]. For example, HPV-5 may cause infections that may linger for a very long time in an infected person without showing any clinical symptoms [9]. However, when an HPV infection does not resolve naturally, it may result in malignancies including genital warts (small or large, raised or flat or even shaped-like-a-cauliflower bumps or groups of bumps around the genital region) [9] and precancerous lesions [15]. While HPV-1/2 causes common warts (usually found on the hands, feet and sometimes knees and elbows), HPV-6/11 causes Recursive Respiratory Papillomatosis (RRP) (when warts are formed on the larynx [16] or other sites on the respiratory tract) [17, 18]. These warts recur very often and obstruct breathing [17]. Another major symptom of HPV infection is that it is strongly related to cancer, specifically cancer of the cervix, vagina, vulva, oropharynx, anus and penis [2, 3] (For details refer to Section 1.1). One common feature of these cancers involves the transmission of HPV infection to the stratified epithelial tissue (a multilayered cell with every cell in direct contact with a basement membrane that separates it from a connective underlying tissue) [2, 14 -15]. The first section of this chapter of this thesis, section 1.1, briefly introduces all cancers associated with and attributable to HPV infection as reported in [2, 3]. Definition of HPV-associated and HPV-attributable cancers are also given in the same section. This is particularly important as a clear inclusion or exclusion criteria is set for cancers of the cervix, vagina, vulva, anus and penis as defined by their causal methods which are HPV-inspired or otherwise. Subsections 1.11 to 1.16 are devoted to respectively discussing all six cancers. In these subsections, actual definitions of cancer of the cervix, vagina, vulva, anus and penis will be provided as well as their composition by specific anatomical region. The relationship between HPV and these cancers will also be provided in these subsections as well as a brief history. Section 1.2 will provide a detailed discussion regarding international trends in the incidence rates of these HPV-associated cancers. Section 1.3 will disc uss the behavior of the incidence rates in Canada as established in Canadian literature and will, therefore, show why this thesis seeks to explore the behavior of incidence rates of HPV-associated cancers in Canada using Canada-wide data. Finally, section 1.4 will itemize the research questions in this thesis. 1.1 HPV-associated Cancers When most people think of an HPV infection, they might think of cervical cancer. However, one must be careful because they is a growing subset of non-cervical cancers extensively established as strongly linked to HPV infection and the proportion of these cancers vary by anatomical site [3]. These cancers include cancer of the oropharynx as well as those in the genital region (i. e. vagina, anus, vulva and penis) [19]. Current data reveal that HPV-infection is associated with 12%-63% of oropharyngeal cancers, 40%-64% of vaginal cancers, 40%-51% of vulvar cancers, 36%-40% of penile cancers and 90%-93% of anal cancers [3, 20] and 100% of cervical cancer cases are attributable to HPV [21]. The difference in HPV-attributable proportions for these non-cervical cancers partly results from inherent differences in the methods of detecting cancer, differences in geographic locations in HPV-attributable populations [22]. Other potential reasons for differences in HPV proportions are because som e studies report on individuals currently having a detectable infection while others report on individuals who have ever had a detectable infection and also there are differences in the HPV strain tested for by different studies [23]. An HPV-associated cancer is a specific cellular type of cancer that is diagnosed in a particular part of the human body where HPV is found [9]. The virus is often found in the vulva, vagina, cervix, rectum, anus and oropharynx [23, 24]. Several studies including [24] have shown that the incidence rates of HPV-associated anal and rectal cancers are similar, so from-here-on-in, rectal cancer will be assumed to have an analogous incidence distribution as anal cancer. Cancer-based registries (CBRs) identify diagnosed cases by using the International Classification of Diseases for Oncology, 3rd revision (ICD-O-3) codes for HPV-associated groups: cancers of the anus (C20-C21), vulva (C51), vagina (C52), cervix (C53), penis (C60) and oropharynx (C019, C024, C028, C090-C099, C102, C108, C140, C142 and C148) [25, 26]. An HPV-attributable cancer is a cancer that is possibly caused by HPV [9]. HPV causes all cervical cancers and cancers of the vulva, penis, vagina, anus, rectum and oropharynx as shown above. The epidemiology and histology of HPV-associated cancers of the cervix, anal, penile, vaginal, vulvar and oropharynx are discussed next in subsections 1.11 to 1.16. 1.11 Cervical Cancer Cervical cancer is a major global public health threat: it is the fourth most prevalent cancer in women, with approximately 500000 new cases annually [27, 28]. Almost all cervical cancers occur at the junction of the endocervix and the ectocervix, at a junction called the transformation zone [28, 29]. According to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), any vaginal lesion that relates to the ectocervix should also be treated as cervical cancer [29]. Before puberty, this junction is found on the visible vaginal portion of the cervix (i.e. the ectocervix) and is fairly stable [30]. Within young women as well as women on oral contraceptives, the visible transformation zone is called ectopy, which regresses into the endocervix with increasing age and the commencement of sexual intercourse [31]. The main morphological type of cervical cancer associated with HPV is squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) which accounts for about 60% of all cervical cancer cases [28]. Adenoc arcinoma (AC) and adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC) are the next common types while neuroendocrine or small cell carcinomas, primary cervical lymphoma, cervical sarcoma, and rhabdomyosarcoma are rare [28]. There are geographical differences in the cervical cancer incidence rates [28]. GLOBOCAN 2012 examined the burden of cervical cancer amongst countries by estimating age-standardized incidence rates (ASR) by country, and a global ASR of 14 per 100000 women of all ages was reported [32]. Over 85% of the global burden of cervical cancer occurs in developing countries, where it accounts for 13% of all female cancers [33, 34]. Most countries in South America and sub-Saharan Africa report an ASR associated with cervical cancer of more than 50 per 100000 women [28]. In contrasts, cervical cancer rates are generally less than 7 per 100000 women in western Europe, western Asia, New Zealand, the Middle East and Australia and these geographical differences in cervical cancer incidence rates closely reflect the availability of cervical precancer screening programs [28]. Comprehensive national screening programs for cervical cancer and dysplasia have a great impact in managing cervical cancer incidence [35]. The Papanicolaou (pap) smear screening test, which detects cytological abnormalities of the cervical transformation zone reduced cervical cancer incidence by more than 70% in developed countries [36]. Risk factors associated with cervical cancer include early sexual debut, multiple sexual partners [37], smoking [38], a history of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) [39] and chronic immunosuppression with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection [40]. Circumcision of male sexual partners is protective for women [41]. Cervical cancer is preventable by avoiding HPV, the causative agent or through the identification and treatment or pre-invasive lesions by histopathologists [30]. These precursor lesions to cervical cancer are called cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) or, specifically, squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) a term used to identify where abnormal cells develop [30]. Lesions from Low-grade CIN mostly relapse while those of high grade require comprehensive treatment [42]. For high-grade CIN, the rate of progression to invasive cancer if left untreated is approximately 30%-50% with 30 years, however, proper treatment drastically reduces this risk to under 1% [42]. 1.12 Anal Cancer Anal cancer or squamous carcinoma of the anus and anal canal is a rare malignancy accounting for only 2% of all gastrointestinal cancers [43, 44] and about 4% of cancers associated with the lower gastrointestinal tract [45]. Anal cancers emerge from anal mucosa when glandular elements associated with the gastrointestinal tract develops into squamous mucosa [28]. Research has shown that a greater proportion of anal cancer cases are attributable to continuous infection with hr-HPV (HPV-16/18) [46]. The global ASR associated with anal cancer is shown to be 1.0 per 100000 [32]. Risk factors for HPV-associated cancer of the anus are generally associated with sexual activity [46, 47]. Reporting at least 10 sexual partners in ones lifetime increases the risk of developing anal cancer [48]. Elsewhere, receptive anal intercourse with two or more partners and HIV infection [49], a history of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (e.g. gonorrhea, chlamydia trachomatis, herpes simplex virus 2) [48], genital warts [50] and smoking [51] have also been shown to increase the risk of developing HPV-associated anal cancer. 1.13 Penile Cancer Another rare malignancy associated with HPV infection is penile cancer. It accounts for less than 1% of all male cancers [3, 43 and 52]. It is an abnormal growth found in the tissues or on the skin of the penis and about 95% of all cases of penile cancer are SCC [53]. It mostly results from a series of epithelial modifications (precursor lesions) which often progress quickly from low-grade lesions to high-grade lesions and finally invasive carcinoma [53]. The frequency of SCC being preceded by premalignant lesions is still unknown [54-57]. Although SCC is the most prevalent penile neoplasia, several histological types of different growth patterns, clinical aggressiveness and HPV association have been reported [58]. An HPV infection is found in basaloid (warty penile SCCs (39%) and 76%, mixed warty-basaloid (82%) [55]. DNA of HPV has also been identified in about of 30%-40% and about 70%-100% of invasive penile cancer tissues [54]. Variations in histological subtypes of penile cancer vis-à  -vis the rate of HPV-positivity is an indication that HPV may be a cofactor in the carcinogenesis of certain variants of penile SCC [59]. This therefore points to higher incidence associated with penile cancer in regions with higher prevalence of HPV and vice versa [60]. Geographical differences in study populations result in variations in incidence rates associated with penile cancer [32]. In North America and Europe, SCC of the penis accounts for less than 1% of cancers associated with men [43]. In developed countries, the ASR of penile cancer is between 0.1 and 0.5 per 100000 men [32].   However, for developing countries including Malawi, Uganda, Brazil, Vietnam, Paraguay, Columbia and India, the penile cancer accounts for more than 10% of reported cancers [32]. The associated ASR is at least 2.0 per 100000 men is reported in these countries [32, 43-44]. The incidence of penile cancer suggests the presence of risk factors [28]. Risk factors essentially are associated with chronic inflammation and HPV infection, compromised genital hygiene [61-63]. Circumcision is reported to have a 3-fold decrease in penile cancer risk [62]. Cancer of the penis is classically associated with old age and is generally reported in men with low socioeconomic status [52]. Smoking is also an independent risk factor associated with penile cancer [62, 63]. Though not an Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)-defining cancer, the risk of developing penile cancer in HIV-positive men is 8 times higher than in HIV-negative men. Men with penile cancer are most likely to report protracted penile rash, penile injury, prior history of genital warts and phimosis (the inability of an uncircumcised penis to fully retract the foreskin) [62]. 1.14 Vaginal Cancer HPV-associated vaginal cancer is a rare malignancy with an ASR between 0.2 and 0.7 per 100000 in most countries [64]. It is associated with older women, with incidence peaking around the sixth and seventh decades of life [65]. Several studies have shown that

Protestant Reformation :: Religion History

Protestant Reformation In the 16th century the Protestant Reformation divided the Roman Catholic Church. This reform was led by Martin Luther whose original intentions were to reform the church, but resulted in a split between Protestant and Catholic. Soon the Protestant Church itself divided resulting in two more churches, one Protestant, and the other reformed church. The Reformed Church is better known as Presbyterian, whose conspicuous leader was John Calvin. John Calvin had many beliefs which had been adopted by the Presbyterian Church. His ideas were modified from those in the Catholic Church. Presbyterians do believe in the Trinity as Catholics do but differ from Catholicism when dealing with ideas like original sin, salvation, and the idea of penance. Presbyterians believe that original sin is rooted in faithlessness which brought man to fall. The idea of salvation to Presbyterians is that salvation is reached through the grace of God, rooted in the deep faith of a person. Catholics believe in penance for sins through reconciliation. Presbyterians believe that penance is dealt with directly with God. Ultimately, Presbyterians believe that God’s truth was and is embodied in Jesus Christ, Lord, and Savior. One of Calvin’s beliefs included that of which God is God of state and nation and the state must be guided by his word. This idea is embodied in the idea of civil government. The Presbyterian government was originally formen when John Calvin was in Geneva. In a Presbyterian form of government there are four different officers. There are pastors, teachers, 12 elected elders, and deacons. The elders are seen to be equal to the clergy. Through this government the Presbyterian belief in total life of the community is displayed and put into practice. The Presbyterian definition of a sacrament is an outward sign by which the Lord represents and testifies his good will towards us. A sacrament is a testimony of God’s grace. Presbyterians acknowledge two sacraments. One is Baptism, and the other Eucharist. Baptism is a symbol of cleansing, forgiveness of original sin permanetly, and makes us all share in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It makes us one with God. The sacrament of the Eucharist is a memory of Christ’s death and a confession of faith.

Geomorphology: Preparation of Earthquakes Essay

Preparation of Earthquakes 1. Building designs & locations a. Fault lines should be shown on maps for people to avoid constructing buildings above active fault lines b. If not, foundation of buildings must be extended to solid material c. High-risk areas should have low-density land use d. Steel structures built to prevent buildings from collapsing when the ground moves i. Taipei 101 has a steel pendulum that would sway & reduce resonance amplification during an earthquake ii. Tokyo’s buildings reinforced to withstand stronger earthquakes e. Shock-absorbing rubber blocks installed in buildings to absorb earthquake energy & oscillations f. Electric supplies installed in buildings in Japan & San Francisco with auto shutoffs to prevent fires g. Fireproof materials used in fittings of buildings to reduce intensity of fires BUT h. Developing countries may not be as well prepared as Developed countries i. Quite costly for the whole nation to have earthquake resistant features j. Less Developed Countries would have less money for such investment k. Over-congested cities would be a death-trap during an earthquake i. Kobe has many areas with flimsy & old structures which collapsed during the Earthquake ii. Many buildings & infrastructures collapsed in Sichuan 2008 due to corruption iii. To save cost & time, materials used to build schools were low quality, resulting in collapse of the buildings iv. Haiti had no reinforced buildings & the govt building collapsed during the earthquake too 2. Drills/ Education a. In Japan, annual drills are conducted to prepare & educate the population b. Warning systems such as SMS were used to warn the Japanese of impending disasters c. Data collected from constant monitoring of areas in the cities helped to save many lives d. Japan invested thousands of dollars in seismographs and data collection systems to monitor the ocean & ground movements BUT e. Some cities/countries do not have such warning & monitoring systems f. There was no warning for the Indonesian quake & tsunami i. Difficult as most people could not afford phones or TVs g. Though given prior warning, there was only 15min to seek shelter when there were no transportation or shelters to go to i. ∠´ Warning had a minimal effect – Populations in Developed countries tend to be more prepared as they have greater financial means for drills & use of technology for warnings 3. Prediction a. Many countries have been investing in earthquake prediction i. Studying patterns of previous earthquakes & animal behaviours ii. Useful if accurate prediction of next earthquake can be made b. China has saved many lives through a few successful predictions c. Japan has been researching on animal’s behaviour for earthquake prediction BUT d. However, predictions made may not be accurate e. China managed to predict an earthquake that hit Beijing 9 hours later i. Failed to do so for a similar but stronger earthquake 1 year later f. Their previous prediction saved many lives as evacuation was carried out, with less than 2k deaths g. However, there was no preparation or evacuation process for the later earthquake, resulting in more than 60k deaths IHE Notes: Preparation of Earthquakes Conclusion – Developed countries living near earthquake zones would be more prepared than Developing countries – Individuals are educated on the appropriate reactions during & after earthquakes – Stronger & better buildings are built, minimizing damage dealt & saving lives – However, corruption may be rampant and thus require assistance from other countries for recovery – Developed countries like Japan did not survive the tsunami either, despite great preparation

The History and Use of Metal Detectors

The History and Use of Metal Detectors In 1881, Alexander Graham Bell invented the first metal detector. As President James Garfield lay dying of an assassins bullet, Bell hurriedly invented a crude metal detector in an unsuccessful attempt to locate the fatal slug. Bells metal detector was an electromagnetic device he called the induction balance. Gerhard Fischar In 1925, Gerhard Fischar invented a portable metal detector. Fischars model was first sold commercially in 1931 and Fischar was behind the first large-scale production of metal detectors. According to the experts at AS Company: In the late 1920s, Dr. Gerhard Fisher, the founder of Fisher Research Laboratory, was commissioned as a research engineer with the Federal Telegraph Co. and Western Air Express to develop airborne direction finding equipment. He was awarded some of the first patents issued in the field of airborne direction finding by means of radio. In the course of his work, he encountered some strange errors and once he solved these problems, he had the foresight to apply the solution to a completely unrelated field, that of metal and mineral detection. Other Uses Simply put, a metal detector  is an  electronic instrument  which detects the presence of  metal  nearby. Metal detectors can help people find metal inclusions hidden within objects, or metal objects buried underground. Metal detectors often consist of a handheld unit with a sensor probe which the user can sweep over the ground or other objects. If the sensor comes near a piece of metal, the user will hear a tone, or see a needle move on an indicator. Usually, the device gives some indication of distance; the closer the metal is, the higher the tone or the higher the needle goes. Another common type is the stationary walk through metal detector which is used for  security screening  at access points in prisons, courthouses, and airports to detect concealed metal weapons on a persons body. The simplest form of a metal detector consists of an  oscillator  producing an alternating current that passes through a coil producing an alternating  magnetic field. If a piece of electrically conductive metal is close to the coil,  eddy currents  will be induced in the metal, and this produces a magnetic field of its own. If another coil is used to measure the magnetic field (acting as a  magnetometer), the change in the magnetic field due to the metallic object can be detected. The first industrial metal detectors were developed in the 1960s and were used extensively for mineral prospecting and other industrial applications. Uses include  de-mining  (the detection of  land mines), the detection of weapons such as knives and guns (especially in  airport security),  geophysical prospecting,  archaeology,  and  treasure hunting. Metal detectors are also used to detect foreign bodies in food as well as in the  construction industry  to detect  steel reinforcing bars  in concrete and pipes plus wires buried in walls or floors.