The long term effects of drug abuse on the unborn fetus of a pregnant Dissertation

The long term effects of drug abuse on the unborn fetus of a pregnant mother - Dissertation Example It is believed that drug abuse by pregnant mothers causes maladaptive behaviors stemming from Axis II diagnosis including (but not limited to) bipolar disorders, borderline personality disorders, schizophrenia, conduct disorders, antisocial and learning disorders. Introduction Substance abuse is linked to a number of different physical and mental defects in the offspring of abusers. A large volume of research exists on the phenomenon and its various dimensions. The physical and mental disabilities endowed to the fetus of substance abusers are complex and have thus been categorized into various systems for closer examination. This research will largely be concerned with a systematic study of long term effects on the fetuses of substance abusers based on Axis II diagnosis alone. A large amount of rich material both of a qualitative and quantitative nature exists for the current research area. The current research will rely on the examination of existing literature since it has both qua ntitative findings and quantitative findings. This will allow the current research to utilize qualitative methods in order to derive qualitative findings that are supported by quantitative results. The current research could have been geared for a pure mixed methods research but the shortage of time and resources precludes any such methods. In order to investigate fetuses that are born from substance abusing mothers, a large sample set and an adequate amount of time is required. The typical time required for such research would be at least a few years since the born child would only display Axis II disorders when they reach their early learning years. However, the shortage of time and the lack of access to a large sample set ready to participate in quantitative research require that the current research be geared towards qualitative methods alone. As mentioned before, the provision of both qualitative and quantitative results also supports the contention that a comprehensive literat ure review would suffice for the current research. Background to Drug Abuse during Pregnancy Drug abuse refers to the consumption of drugs without direct medical advice or supervision. It is widely believed that drug abuse relates to the recreational abuse of mood altering substances but the use of any drugs for performance enhancement is also essentially drug abuse. Based on this classification, drug abuse involves drugs that are mood altering, performance enhancing as well as psychoactive in character. The use of any forms of drugs, whether legal or illegal, is considered as drug abuse as long as there is no medical justification for their use (Ksir & Ray, 2002). Another major feature of drug abuse is the dependence created by drug use. Drug abusers or substance abusers require continuous consumption of the subject drug in order to satisfy their body’s urges. The number of drugs being abused around the world is too large to be discussed within the framework of this research alone. However, the most common feature displayed by all used drugs is the tendency of the user to rely excessively on the subject drug for mood altering or performance enhancement purposes (Barrett, Meisner, & Stewart, 2008). The dependency of the drug abuser on the drugs causes the greatest problems during pregnancy because the drug abuser is unable to

Theory of Absolute Advantage | Analysis

Theory of Absolute Advantage | Analysis Introduction In response to the mercantilism system which dominated economics thought in the 18 century, Adam Smith introduce and gives extension discussion of absolute advantage theory in international trade and illustrate what to do if countries do not stick to the rule and maxim of international trade in An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Adam Smith prove wrong the belief of international trade between country was zero sum game which means the gaining of a country from international trade was the loss of other country. In additional, the international trade was positive sum game which means countries will gain benefit from trades. In the illustration of absolute advantage theory, Adam Smith illustrate that a country which have absolute advantage over other country if its production capacity in goods and services is greater when using same amount of resources or its produce a good using fewer resources (lower opportunity cost). Adam Smith also says that a country should produce goods where its production capacity is the most efficient and trade those goods where its production is not efficient. In additional, absolute advantage theory can also applies in the regions, cities and firms and tariffs and quotas should not restrict international trade. Adam Smith says the labor is fixed and homogeneous within a country. In additional, he also considers the labor is the only factor of production (input) and technology and production cost is constant in absolute advantage theory. He also illustrate that transportation cost are zero and countries use barter trade system in trading. In conclusion, Adam Smith absolute advantage theory replaces the mercantilist idea and questions the objective of national governments which applies mercantilist idea and acquires wealth through restrictive trade policies. In additional, absolute advantage theory also measure a country wealth through the living standard of its people. Theoretical background and Issues In absolute advantage theory, there are issue which is do all countries have an absolute advantage. Adam Smith does not consider the question if every country has an absolute advantage in the production of some goods. From a theoretical point of view, it could be possible that a country has no absolute production advantages or might lose them over time. Adam Smith’s theory suggests that absolute advantages develop as a consequence of trade and trade might be the incentive ways that leads to the creation of absolute advantages. However, nowadays, international trade is widely spread and the countries do not start equally. Rather, some countries are less productive and poorer. They might have an absolute advantage in those goods which only they are able to produce because of natural environment or condition. But those goods constitute only a small fraction of all traded goods. Smith gives another possibility for less productive countries to have an absolute  advantage. He states that poor countries might be able to compete in the agricultural sector with rich, more productiv e countries. Smith’s reaches this conclusion by state that the division of labor does not equally increase in all sectors of production and that wage levels differ internationally. Another issue in absolute advantage theory is how the trading between developed countries that have an equally high level of development using absolute advantage theory. Unlike the theory of comparative advantage, which is complemented by intra-industry trade theory, Adam Smith’s absolute advantage theory can also help to understand trade between developed countries. Firms in developed countries produce similar industrial products and compete over profits and market shares. Trade and success is determined by absolute production advantages which means that ‘art and skill’ (technology and education of the workers) play a significant role. Since this competition exists domestically there is no reason why this kind of competition should not exist internationally; especially because Adam Smith’s theory does not have a basic difference between domestic and international trade. An additional gain is technology transfer or international learning. Developed countries benefit from it to a greater extent than underdeveloped countries since they are able to make use of technological developments. This can explain, for example, why the technological level of Europe and North America has converged in fifty year. As a result, a rich country benefits more from trade with another rich country than from trade with an underdeveloped country. Discussion: Adam Smith’s Absolute Advantage Theory To illustrate the theory of absolute advantage, presume that there are two countries (China and Germany), producing just two products (rice and cars). Assume that products are tradable without workers and costs are not moving between the two countries, but moving between the two sectors within a country. All workers are equally productive and as the only input in a country. Production technology in China differs from that in Germany (see table below). Suppose that to produce 1 unit of rice, Germany requires 3 units of labor meanwhile China requires only 2 units of labor. Similarly, to produce 1 car, Germany needs 6 units of labor while China needs 8 units of labor. As the result, China is more efficient in the rice production and Germany is more efficient in the cars production. Therefore, China has an absolute advantage in the rice production and Germany has an absolute advantage in the cars production. To illustrate that specialization of production, coupled with international trade flows according to the theory (absolute advantage), can be profitable. In our example, presume that China produces less 1 unit of car yet this save up 8 units of labor so, now the labors can be used to produce 8/2=4 units of rice (opportunity cost of car production in the China). China has now produced extra 4 units of rice although produced less 1 car. Suppose that China must import 1 car from Germany if China wants to consume the same amount of car s like before. Germany needs 6 units of labor to produce this car. Thus, rice production drops by 6/3=2 units of rice (opportunity costs of car production in Germany) as these laborers must bring in from the rice sector. Now note that the total production of rice has increased by 2 units (4 units more in China and 2 units less in Germany), while the total production of cars remain unchanged (1 car less in China and 1 car more in Germany). In conclusion, these extra units of rice show the potential gains from specialization if China and Germany focused on the production of the product which they can produce most efficiently. Both countries can gain benefit from the theory, when they exchange 3 units of rice for 1 car. Argument: Is theory of absolute advantage best describes international trade? Absolute advantage refers to a country’s ability to produce a certain good more efficiently than another country and it has three main arguments. First, it argues that regulations favoring one industry draw away real resources from another industry where they might have been more advantageously employed. Second, it mentions the important of specialization in a society. When someone has some advantages in produce or provides a good or services, he or she needs to specialize in the production. Third, specialization needs to be practice in international commercial policy and nations. It is better when a country is allows to focus on production of goods that it has absolute advantages and then import goods that other countries have absolute advantage. Theory of absolute advantage provides a clear and simple view on international trade and helps country decide what to produces, import and also export but it has some drawback since it fails to explain why free trade can be advantages when one country has absolute advantage in producing all the goods. How would a country without having any absolute advantage in producing any good, join and gain from free trade with other countries. How will this country pay for its imports because it will produce nothing that is cheaper to produce as compared with other countries? This theory ignored to explain how differences in climatic conditions and natural resource can contribute to comparative advantages. Some country has no absolute advantage in all good cause by limited resources and technology may excluded in international trade market and consequently, it will lead to conflict in allocate resources in that particular country and insufficient in production. Theory of absolute advantage focuses on which country can product good by using lesser resources. If there is no trade between countries, then the prices of good will indicates by its resources cost in each country. The difference in prices with no trade will reach an equivalent price with each good being exported from the initially low-price country and imported by the initially high-price country. Smiths approach does not indicate what would happen if the same country had absolute advantage in both products. The theory of comparative advantage introduces by David Ricardo has solve this problem as it do not considers cost in production but opportunity cost. A country will trade in the pattern that maximizes its advantage. Next, absolute advantage fails to illustrate the real situation in international market because of some assumption. First, it does not take transportation costs involved in selling the product into account. For instance, if product is exchanging between China and German, the transportation cost may cause the price even higher than the original price without trade because of long distance. Besides, Adam Smith assumes that exchange rates are stable which the case is seldom and hence it is a limitation. Furthermore, it also assumes that labor can switch between products easily and they will work with same efficiency which in reality cannot happen. In conclusion, we do not think that theory of absolute advantage by Adam Smith best describe international trade in today world. This is because it fails to explain the condition of country that does not have any absolute advantage. In addition, assumptions that not fit to reality like ignore transportation cost, use stable exchange rates and assume same efficiency between labors causes it is not accurate. Recommendation A country with absolute advantage can produce a good at lower marginal cost (fewer materials, cheaper materials, in less time etc.) This means that, the country should implement specialization in the production of such goods. Specialization of good can be made by Research and Development which leads to improvement of existing products or procedures. For example, to increase the Agricultural productivity Scientist such as Biologist and Chemists will need to develop technologies which may eventually lead to more production. For example, if a country has an absolute advantage on producing wheat, farmers of that country has to balance the environmental concerns to meet the need in a sustainable way. In overall, Research and Development helps the countries with absolute advantage to specialize and maximize the productivity. This benefits the countrys economics state. Next, a country in absolute advantage should carry out trade. This is because a country can produce goods more than its need. Therefore they should trade the goods with other countries. The trade can be goods for goods or goods for money. When the country is carrying out goods for goods trade it can acquire goods which it cant produce in its country and vice versa. On the other hand, goods for money trade allow the country to strengthen its economic state and grow further. Conclusion In a nutshell, absolute advantage creates many benefits for a country. However, there are certain limitations to this theory that a country will have to face. Firstly, it does not consider the transportation cost of moving the products from one country to the other. This is because, transportation cost are counted in final selling price of the product. As transportation cost is also a factor in production price sometimes trading can be a loss to a country. Next, the theory also assumes that exchange rates are stable which in reality it is seldom. In the current economic world exchange rates changes rapidly. This can cause major loss to some country if they trade in a wrong time. This is because exchange rates play a major role in trade market. The next limitations are, labors also cannot switch between products and they won’t be able to work with same efficiency. Some labors will only have a few working skills and training which cannot be used to produce variety of goods. So, even though absolute advantage gives many benefits to a country but it also have some negative sides which a country will have to encounter and tackle it effectively.

Political Satire in Animal Farm :: Animal Farm

Political Satire in Animal Farm    George Orwell, author of the highly acclaimed Animal Farm, wrote this fable in hopes of informing not only children, but also the population as a whole, of his views on the Russian Revolution and the rise of communism in that nation. The fable, a literary composition conveying a moral truth, clearly guides the readers through the steps and outcome of the Russian Revolution. But instead of the battle being fought and won in the streets of Russia, Orwell chooses to portray the happenings of the Russian Revolution on a farm based during the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. The animals, unhappy with their day-to-day living conditions, rise and revolt against the tyrant Jones, the cruel and drunkard owner of the Jones' farm.    In Animal Farm, the barn was a place for the meetings that took place, and alternatively served as a shelter for all of the animals, except for the pigs. The schoolhouse was a place for the pigs, and rarely other animals, to learn to read and write and therefore grow in social power over the other less-intelligent animals that spent their days working in order to bring in enough food to keep the revolution alive. The farmhouse was where the Jones family resided, before the revolution that forced them astray. According to the commandments set forth after the revolution, no animal was to use the farmhouse for their own personal gain, however, the pigs were able to distort this rule so that they were able to live in luxury in this house meant for the humans. Building the windmill proved to be an important icon and struggle for the animals of Animal Farm, as it was destroyed twice and never quite brought the gleefulness and comfortable life that the animals were led to envision before-hand and during the construction by the sinister pig Napoleon. Each character of Animal Farm represented an important character or type-of people in the Russian Revolution, a direct comparison between Animal Farm, and a strong political movement that shocked the world.    Comrade Napoleon, as he insisted the other animals called him, represents Joseph Stalin, a cruel leader during and after the revolution, who exiled other political leaders and forced mass-executions upon the people, just as Napoleon does in Orwell's fable. Snowball, the opposing pig and leader of

Obey Direct Orders Essay

There are more than a few reasons that lawful orders should be obeyed. These orders are given for a variety of reasons, and should be followed whether or not you understand or agree with them. Orders are sometimes given simply to keep soldiers to maintain their military bearing and display a proper image of the United States Armed Forces. Other times they are given to protect the soldier or to protect the soldiers around him/her. No matter what, an order should be carried out without question, because if you question orders that seem less important, you could get someone hurt because you were wasting time ignoring or questioning an order that you thought was unimportant. A soldier is given a great many orders that fall into the first category I discussed, maintaining military bearing. These orders range from keeping in step and swinging your arms in formation, to not moving while talking on your phone. All of these orders have reasoning behind them that has applications on the battlefield. For instance, if you are keeping in step and swinging your arms in formation, then you are paying attention to the cadence that is being given, so if you get a command by whoever is marching you, you are already paying attention and can react quickly. This can be the difference between life and death in a combat zone. The same thing can be said about talking on the phone while walking around. You need to not have any distractions when you are patrolling an area. If you are not alert, you could get yourself killed by an IED, or worse you could get others killed. So while these orders may not seem to have all that much importance in the here and now, they actually have a great deal of importance in that they train you in how you need to behave while deployed, so they should be followed with just as much care as any other order. Another type of order that is given is an order that is designed directly to protect you or those around you. Every time you are given an order to do guard duty or a cleaning detail, that order is there to protect yourself and others. When you are asked to pull guard duty, you are actively watching for threats to those that you are guarding. If an insurgent were to try to enter your AO when there was no guard, he could do a lot of damage before he was noticed, and he could kill a lot of people. If you have a guard on post, the same insurgent is likely to be killed or taken into custody with no loss of U.S. Soldiers. When here in training you are practicing the ability to stay alert while on those guard duties. If you were to fall asleep on duty, or not report, then you could be responsible for the deaths of your fellow soldiers. A less obvious threat than insurgents are the bacteria and diseases that you are helping to keep under control every time you follow an order to do a cleaning detail. If these orders are not followed then our fighting force could become crippled by sickness. So you can see even cleaning details are in place to help protect you and your fellow soldiers. In the end the point is, whether or not you understand the reason you are being given an order, or agree with that order, it needs to be followed. Failing to follow orders can cause people to get hurt, or can put you in the position of not having the focus or discipline to stay out of harms way yourself. Follow orders every time.

Post-16 option Essay

POST 16 – OPTIONS Post 16 options are given to young people and adults after they finish year 11 from school. Each post-16 option offers you different qualification opportunities and a different mix of teaching methods and assessment. Post 16 options comprises on: STUDY FULLL TIME 6th form or college Take up an Apprenticeship, Traineeship or Supported internship Take a part-time education or training course if you are employed or volunteer for more than 20 hours per week STUDY FULL TIME Schools, colleges and training providers offer a range of subjects and courses in which a student can study full-time. It normally requires to have at least five GCSEs at grades A* to C and at least grade B in any specific subjects one chooses. 6TH FORM COLLEGES A sixth form college is an educational institution in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A-levels, BTEC and the International Baccalaureate Diploma, or school-level qualifications such as GCSEs. In England and Wales, education is only compulsory until the end of year 11, the school year in which the pupil turns 16 (although this is changing in August 2013 to compulsory education until year 12 and by 2015, education will be compulsory until year 13) In the English and Welsh state educational systems, those wishing to continue may either stay on at a secondary school with an attached sixth form, transfer to a local sixth form college, or go to a more vocational further education college, although, depending on geographical location, there may be little choice as to which of these options can be taken. In the independent sector, sixth forms are an integral part of secondary schools (public s chools), and there is also a number of smaller-scale independent sixth form colleges. Students at Sixth Form College typically study for two years. Some students sit AS examinations at the end of the first year, and A-level examinations at the end of the  second. In addition, in recent years a variety of vocational courses have been added to the curriculum. There are currently over 90 sixth form colleges in operation in England and Wales. Most perform extremely well in national examination league tables. In addition, they offer a broader range of courses at a lower cost per student than most school sixth forms. In a few areas, authorities run sixth form schools which function like sixth form colleges but are completely under the control of the local education authorities. Unlike further education colleges, sixth form colleges rarely accept part-time students or run evening classes[citation needed], although one boarding sixth form college exists. Take up an Traineeship, Apprenticeship or Supported internship Traineeship It makes one get ready for work or for doing an Apprenticeship. They last from six weeks to six months and provide essential work preparation training, literacy and numeracy skills and work experience to get an Apprenticeship or other job. Apprenticeship In an apprentice ship one has to work for an employer and train to do a specific job at the s Apprenticeships at three levels: a, Apprenticeship b, Advanced Apprenticeship c, Higher Apprenticeships Entry requirements for these apprenticeships is one must be 16 or over, living in England and not in full-time education. There are now nearly 200 types of Apprenticeship from engineering to boat building, veterinary nursing to accountancy. Options depend on experience and what is available locally. There is no set time for completing an apprenticeship. Most take between one and four years, depending on the level of learning capabilities. As well as working alongside and learning from experienced staff, there will be off-the-job training, usually on a day-release basis at a local college or specialist training facility. The qualifications will be a study for a work-based qualification at level 2, 3 or 4, a technical certificate relevant to to the subject chosen occupation, such as BTEC or City & Guilds award and Functional Skills qualifications. More studies included for certificates or other qualifications that are required in chosen occupation. Assessment includes a mix of observation by an assessor, the assessment of a  portfolio of evidence and examinations. Supported internship Just for students with learning difficulties or learning disabilities who want to get a job and need extra support to do this. They last for at least six months and are unpaid. Work experience and an employer trains students to do a job role. Students also get to study for qualifications or other courses to get ready to take up a job. Work or volunteer while studying or training part-time It is a combined training or studying for a qualification and work at the same time. It doesn’t have to be a paid job, student can volunteer on a project or with a charity, or get a work-experience placement in a career or job area that interests them. Colleges and training providers offer a wide range of training courses which are part-time including A levels and work-related qualifications like BTECs or NVQs. BTEC’s- are usually studied at school or college they are work based qualifications that are a mix between practical and theory and some work experience. NVQ’s- these can be taken either at school/college, through a placement or in the work place.