Americas Juvenile Justice System Essay - 3756 Words

The Juvenile Justice system, since its conception over a century ago, has been one at conflict with itself. Originally conceived as a fatherly entity intervening into the lives of the troubled urban youths, it has since been transformed into a rigid and adversarial arena restrained by the demands of personal liberty and due process. The nature of a juveniles experience within the juvenile justice system has come almost full circle from being treated as an adult, then as an unaccountable child, now almost as an adult once more. Studies and anecdotes have shown that our modern approach, however, is ill-equipped to reduce crime or deal with chronic delinquents while at the same time protecting their due liberties. We now stand on the†¦show more content†¦Colonists placed their children either in the homes of others or, as technology enabled the industrial revolution, in factories and other locations of modern industry near the home. Writes Feld, ?The coterminous location of home and workplace and the limited range of occupations enabled young people to learn most of their required economic skills either from their parents or from surrounding adults and quickly to achieve adult productivity,? (21). More importantly, children from a relatively young age were expected to assume adult culpability for crimes they committed. Punishments for children rivaled those for adults. As time marched on, childhood became a socially constructed stage of life. Coupled with a rise in the traditional family view of domesticity (men at work, women isolated as homemakers), new concepts of child rearing took hold in the middle and upper classes. Instead of exposing children to the world, ?Deferral of adult responsibilities rather than assumption of adult roles became the child-rearing norm,? writes Feld (30). The ?child saving? movement worked to segregate children from society both directly and indirectly. These protective measures were based chiefly on middle class, protestant, white, rural idealists who viewed childhood as a stage of moral immaturity and impressionability. ?Progressive reformers implemented a variety of child-saving strategiesShow MoreRelatedBook Review for: No Matter How Loud I Shout, by Edward Humes Essay879 Words   |  4 Pageslife of juvenile court. New York, NY: Simon amp; Schuster Paperbacks. Edward Humes is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, non-fiction, and true crime writer. Of his twelve books, five involve the criminal justice system. In this work, Humes takes on the sizeable task of examining the complicated juvenile justice system, chronicling the stories of several juvenile offenders and juvenile justice officials, and how they navigate the confusing and often arbitrary laws of the California juvenile justiceRead More Juvenile Justice Essay881 Words   |  4 Pages Juvenile Justice nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The Juvenile Justice System as it typically functions in Americas thousands of jurisdictions is the subject that will be covered. The Juvenile Justice System is defined as that quot;sociolegal process having responsibility and authority for public reaction to current juvenile delinquency and deterrence of future juvenile delinquency, including within that process the public and private agents, agencies, laws, rules, and policies having to do withRead MoreThe Issues Of The Juvenile Justice Act820 Words   |  4 Pagesfor its contrasting position on the youth justice system, contravening with the Conventions of the Right of the Child (CRC) and disregarding recommendations made by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The Juvenile Justice Act 1992 (QLD) is particularly scrutinized for containing legislation that states 17 year olds can be charged, tried and detained as an adults, giving courts the potential to overcharge punishments for juveniles and threaten their safety in adult prisonsRead MoreEssay on Life Without Parole for Juveniles956 Words   |  4 Pagesthe use of life without parole for juveniles who committed non-homicide crimes, and Roper v. Simmons (2005) abolished the use of the death penalty for juvenile offenders. They both argued that these sentences violated the 8th Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual pun ishment. While these landmark cases made great strides for the rights of minors passing through the criminal justice system, they are just the first steps in creating a juvenile justice system that takes into consideration the vastRead MoreAmerica s Juvenile Justice System Essay1678 Words   |  7 PagesAmerica’s juvenile justice system has been around for ages and has had problems since its creation. The courts have failed to devise a way to help juveniles and keep them from even entering the justice system. More often than not, juveniles are forgotten and never dealt with until they reach the point where they are either going to be placed within the system or receive some sort of diversion or alternative. This is where the problem exists. There needs to be more communication between the differentRead MoreBurning Down The House By Neil Bernstein761 Words   |  4 Pages Burning Down the House Review America’s answer for dealing with crime prevention is locking up adult offenders in correctional facilities with little rehabilitation for reentry into society. American response for crime prevention for juvenile’s offenders is the same strategy used against adult offenders taken juvenile offenders miles away from their environment and placed in adult like prisons. However the way juvenile our house and treated while in the care of state corrections officer isRead MoreJuvenile Rehabilitation: Adult Prison vs. Juvenile Incarceration1703 Words   |  7 PagesJuvenile Rehabilitation: Adult Prisons vs. Juvenile Incarceration Maureen Fries-Labra English 122 Anna Hopson December 14, 2009 Juvenile Rehabilitation: Adult Prisons vs. Juvenile Incarceration The criminal justice system has a branch for juvenile offenders. Established in the early twentieth century; it is the responsibility of this division to decide the fates of youthful offenders. This is administered by family court with support of social workers and family. With the increased numberRead MoreEssay on The History and Evolution of the Juvenile Justice System1368 Words   |  6 PagesThe history of the juvenile justice system is a mixture of the criminal justice system, family court, child protective services, social services, orphanages, adoption and humanitarian growth. (Schmalleger, 2007) Where a child fit into the system would depend on the crime, family pedigree, financial standing, color and social status. Children of color would be treated harsher than whites, Indian children were treated worse than African American Children, and status was determined by the color ofRead MoreCriminal Law Foundations Essay examples1543 Words   |  7 PagesCriminal Law Foundati ons Megan Ray CJA/484 April 7, 2012 Terri Madison Criminal Law Foundations Every system has a foundation that it builds off of even the criminal justice system. America finds governmental and legal foundations within the Constitution and the Bill of Rights; as time has gone by there have been amendments added to these important documents. These amendments help to support the constitution as well as the Bill of Rights. The Amendments make articles withinRead MoreJuvenile Justice System Essay1694 Words   |  7 PagesThe juvenile justice system is a foundation in society that is granted certain powers and responsibilities. It faces several different tasks, among the most important is maintaining order and preserving constitutional rights. When a juvenile is arrested and charged with committing a crime there are many different factors that will come in to play during the course of his arrest, trial, conviction, sentencing, and rehabilitation process. This paper examines the Juvenile Justice System’s court process

Human Resource Management ( Hrm ) Essay - 2085 Words

Introduction Human Resource Management (HRM) can be described as the term that is used to define formal systems developed for the administration of people/ personnel within the organization. The major responsibilities of the Human Resource are normally divided into three major areas of management: employee compensation, staffing the employees, and defining/designing work. Fundamentally, the major purpose of Human Resource Management is to make the most of the productivity of an organization by improving the efficiency of its staffs. The Human Resource comes across numerous issues and challenges, and in order to solve those issues, the HR managers have to take specific steps. In this paper, I am describing a particular issue related to Human Resource Management, which I have witnessed and I am intended to solve through my strategic and organizational point of view (Simons, 2011). Issue in the Organization The organization where I work is related to both manufacturing and customer service. I had heard about many issues happening within the organization. However, the most significant issue that I noticed/ observed in the Organization was related to the Human Resource Management. The customers often complained that they are not satisfied from the services being provided to them, which was majorly due to lack of capability of the employees to treat customers in a right way. They did not know what to do and when to do. Also, I noticed that most of the employees seemedShow MoreRelatedHuman Resource Management ( Hrm )1508 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Human resource management (HRM) is the managing of human skills and talents to make sure they are used effectively and in alignment with an organization’s goals† (Youssef, 2012). The primary role of human resource management is to plan, develop, and order policies and programmers designed to make prompt use of an organizationâ€℠¢s human resources. It is that part of management which is concerned with the people at work and with their relationship within an organization. I currently work for a HumanRead MoreHuman Resource Management ( Hrm )1552 Words   |  7 PagesHuman Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an association that has emphases on the employment of, administration of, and providing direction for the employees within an organization. The Human Resource Management department members deliver knowledge, training, tools, administrative services, and lawful and organization advice. The HRM department is organized by very talented managers who has a mission to make sure the rest of the business has the needs for successful operation. HumanRead MoreHuman Resource Management ( Hrm )1562 Words   |  7 PagesHuman resource management (HRM) is an important strategic and systematic approach that provides each company with the opportunity to create policies and practices, as well as to establis h administrative forms (Pfeffer, 2007). According to Armstrong (2009) HRM is an approach that deals with ‘employment, development, and well-being of the people working in organizations’. However HRM has evolved significantly through the years due to the rapid social, economic, political and environmental changes.Read MoreHuman Resource Management ( Hrm )1142 Words   |  5 Pageshe HRM Process Human Resource Management (HRM) is a combination of elements that work interdependently on each other to carry out the daily functions within an organization. Human Resources Management operates in several roles serving as a liaison between the organization and the employee. This dual role often present challenges within HRM; therefore it is vital the HRM Department is skilled on various issues that may arise on a daily basis within an organization. In this paper, I will discussRead MoreHuman Resource Management ( Hrm )1105 Words   |  5 PagesHuman Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an association that has emphases on the employment of, administration of, and providing direction for the employees within an organization. The Human Resource Management department members deliver knowledge, training, tools, administrative services, and lawful and organization advice. The HRM department is organized by very talented managers who has a mission to make sure the rest o f the business has the needs for successful operation. HumanRead MoreHuman Resource Management : Hrm772 Words   |  4 Pagesa brief description of the models of HRM discussed in the first chapter of the textbook, and explain how each one relates to strategic human resource management. Human Resource Management (HRM) at its best seeks to manage people and resources to maximize economic and social outputs. Social output resulting from providing opportunity for advancement will ultimately make employees become true participants in the company. Bratton and Gold (2012) outline six HRM models, they are: the Forbrum, TichyRead MoreHrm And The And Human Resource Management1094 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction The main purpose to write this essay is to analogize the differences in the field of HRM and IR. The Foundation of Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management is based on intense academic study. The essay is an endeavor to illustrate by scrutinizing their objectives and the viewpoints or the approaches of this field. The first part of the essay is an attempt to define HRM and IR and it further continues to explain the differences and similarities between the two. In the lastRead MoreHuman Resource Management ( Hrm )1405 Words   |  6 PagesHuman Resource Management (HRM) seeks to manage people and resources to maximize economic and social outputs. Bratton and Gold (2012) outline six HRM models which include: the Forbrum, Tichy and Devanna model, the Harvard model, the Guest model, the Warwick model, The Storey model, and Ulrich’s Strategic Partner model of HRM. Forbrum Tichy and Devanna model of HRM is based on the principle of selecting, appraising, developing and rewarding employees who fulfill management strategic business interestsRead MoreHuman Resource Management ( Hrm )2412 Words   |  10 Pages these human traits can bring considerable benefits to organizations† (Mullins 1999). However, when managed poorly they have the potential to limit organizational growth and threaten the viability of a business. â€Å"There are countless examples of corporate and project crises in the construction sector which have arisen as the result of people s behaviour, and it would seem that human resource management (HRM) has the potential to eliminate more construction risks than any other management approach†Read MoreHuman Resources Management ( Hrm ) Essay794 Words   |  4 Pages Human Resources Management (HRM) is people who work in an organization. The manager is a person who manages people, leads, facilitates and provide tools for the organization. Human resources management also, sets strategic processes and procedures, run difficult and complex communication as the organization attracts the best talents from the recruiting process. Human resources management is where everything begins and ends for an individual and the organization. Consequently

Carbohydrate and Peptide †Based Vaccines The Way Forward Free Essays

string(85) " being developed against certain types of pneumococci \(Francis and Tillett, 1930\)\." Abstract Existing treatments and therapies have supported a huge variety of diseases and infections, a significant example being antibiotics. However the increasing presence of multi-resistant bacteria, as well as increased changes observed in the mechanisms responsible for variation in viruses, involving accumulation of mutations within the genes that code for antibody-binding sites (known as antigenic drift), has resulted in these new strains not being inhibited as effectively by those treatments that originally targeted them (Reche, Fernandez-Caldas, Flower, Fridkis-Hareli and Hoshino, 2014). The knock-on effect has been that the bacteria or virus is able to spread more easily, and therapeutic treatments (used after a person contracts a disease), become less effective, unable to work by boosting the host’s own immune system. We will write a custom essay sample on Carbohydrate and Peptide – Based Vaccines: The Way Forward or any similar topic only for you Order Now As a result, it has been recognised that the vaccine offers the advantage of preventing the anticipation of disease occurrence, using advance action to counteract infection and chronic illness. Prophylactic, and to a lesser extent therapeutic, vaccines are the most cost-effective and efficient alternative to other treatments and prevention of infectious and chronic diseases. They work by causing changes to the T- and B-cells of the adaptive immune system to eliminate or prevent pathogen growth (Plotkin, Orenstein, and Offit, 2013). Going back to the introduction of vaccines more than 200 years ago, these were initially composed of killed pathogens, which although successful, also caused unacceptably high levels of adverse reactions. During the years of research that have since followed, as with the changes observed with antibiotics and other treatments becoming less effective, the need for safer and more effective vaccines has also been acknowledged. In addition, an improved underst anding of antigen presentation and subsequent recognition has supported the development of newer vaccine types (Flower, 2013). Equally, whilst many diseases and infections are controlled by vaccines, for some, no vaccines have been developed, including Streptococcus pyogenes, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) (Wang and Walfield, 2005; Barrett and Stanberry, 2009). Efforts to develop new vaccines are discussed in more details, with a focus on peptide-based and carbohydrate-based vaccines. Challenges are also discussed, leading to a summary of the potential direction of vaccination and research, which describes a promising future. Peptide-based vaccines An example of a newer category of vaccine is peptide-based vaccines. Peptides are short sequences of proteins, and diseases/infections use these proteins as part of their attack on the immune system. In many cases, the immune system has the ability to recognise the proteins associated with an attack by disease or infectious causing pathogens and can respond effectively. However as observed with many cancers, HIV, HCV and other conditions, an effective immune response is not triggered, hence the need for newer vaccine developments including those based on peptides, which encompass single proteins or synthetic peptides encompassing many antigenic determinants (B- and T-cell epitopes) (Flower, 2013). Peptide vaccines are a type of subunit vaccine, which presents an antigen to the immune system, using the peptide of the original pathogen, supporting immunity. Such peptide-based vaccines avoid the adverse effects described with traditional whole-organism vaccines (Moisa and Kolesanova, 20 12) with additional benefits also noted (Ben-Yedidia and Arnon, 1997), including: The absence of infectious material An immune response that is specific, focusing only on the targeted epitope, with the induction of site-specific antibodies No risk of an immune attack or cross-reactivity with the host tissues Flexibility, with an ability to modify products accordingly Improved effectiveness in relation to manufacturing on a large scale, and long-term storage where necessary e.g. a pandemic. However, a number of difficulties have been encountered during the development of such vaccines (Simerska, Moyle and Toth, 2011; Dudek, Perlmutter, Aguilar, Croft and Purcell, 2010) including: A short biological activity of peptides due to degradation by enzymes The trigger of a weak immune response when used alone i.e. single peptides Finding optimal delivery systems. As a result, and to overcome the difficulties mentioned above, synthetic peptide vaccines have been developed, on the basis that a greater more accurately targeted immune response will be achieved. Peptide antigens are not immunogenic by themselves, so this has led to investigations into co-administration of subunit peptide antigens with adjuvants (immunostimulants) to increase the peptide-induced responses to corresponding antigens. Appropriate delivery systems and often toxic adjuvants have demonstrated effective immunity, however, although many adjuvants are described in the literature, only a few have been approved for use with vaccines for delivery in humans due to their toxicity and include water/oil emulsions, liposomes, and bacterial lipophilic compounds to offer a few examples (Heegaard et. al., 2010). Incomplete Freund’s adjuvant (IFA) and Montanide ISA (both oil-based) have been used in clinical trials. Focusing on liposomes as another example, researchers have demo nstrated that use of lipid core peptide (LCP) technology (lipidation of peptides) improves the effectiveness of a self-adjuvanting vaccine delivery system, targeting a specific disease and triggering an effective immune response. This system provides a promising platform for human vaccine development (Zhong, Skwarczynski and Toth, 2009; Moyle and Toth, 2008). In animal models, peptide vaccines have been effective in generating the required immune response, and during recent years, peptide-based vaccines have advanced from animal models and pre-clinical studies, to human clinical trials (Yang et al., 2001). Although currently, all known peptide vaccines under development for humans remain at the stage of clinical trials, these trials should build on the promising evidence resulting from research to date of the potential application of vaccine candidates based on a LCP system, as well as other strategies. Prevention of not only many infectious diseases including hepatitis C virus, malaria, human immunodeficiency virus and group A streptococci), but also for cancer immunotherapy and improved allergen specific tolerance, remains an exciting, and very real possibility. Carbohydrate-based vaccines The development of vaccines based on carbohydrates not only has quite a history, but is also an area that is fast moving in the current research world. The literature provides evidence as far back as the early 1900s where researchers discovered a connection between type-specific polysaccharides and the induction of antibodies being developed against certain types of pneumococci (Francis and Tillett, 1930). You read "Carbohydrate and Peptide – Based Vaccines: The Way Forward" in category "Essay examples" This was confirmed by evidence of pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides being used as vaccines, providing effective and long lasting immunity (Heidelberger, Dilapi, Siegel and Walter, 1950). However despite these early findings, the discovery and success of other treatments such as antibiotics and chemotherapeutics led to this area of research being put on hold. As mentioned earlier however, due to increased resistance to existing treatments such as antibiotics, coupled with th e recognition for a need of newer treatments including improved vaccines, renewed interest into preventive vaccines has resulted in novel approaches, which include carbohydrate vaccines. Vaccines are commonly made from weakened pathogens, or, as we now know, other approaches also use immunogenic proteins or polysaccharides. Carbohydrates have been the centre of attention in the research field of vaccination because not only do they exhibit more stability than proteins, but they have roles in both physiology and pathophysiology, including cell interaction and signalling, inflammation, pathogen host adhesion/recognition, to name a few examples (Doshi, Shanbhag, Aggarwal, Shahare and Martis, 2011). During the last ten years or so, they have been used as adjuvants, as carriers for protein antigens to aid immunotherapy, and as targets for vaccines against bacteria. Additionally, as observed with DNA and proteins, carbohydrates are now recognised as biopolymers also, playing a role in many molecular and biological activities (Doshi et. al., 2011). These discoveries, partnered by an improved understanding of the immune system and the identification of specific and relevant carbohydrate structures, led to the development of glycoconjugates, which in turn led to carbohydrate vaccine development (Holemann and Seeberger, 2004). Glycoconjugates are present in the surfaces of cells, as well as in the surrounding extracellular matrices and connective tissue. Therefore both the identified structure and presence of glyconjugates, plus the role they play, means they are a suitable basis for the development of new vaccines. Induction of protective antibodies is key to an effective immune response as a result of a vaccine, and as with peptide vaccines, challenges have been evident in the research to develop effective carbohydrate vaccines, including the following: Glycans struggle to effectively induce protective antibodies Carbohydrates have a low immunogenic impact by themselves (as observed with peptides). There are two main carbohydrate vaccine types: 1. Natural carbohydrate vaccines: these include small amounts of impurities 2. Synthetic carbohydrate vaccines: these are produced with no contaminants, and are cost-effective due large-scale production. Synthetic carbohydrate antigens used to develop vaccines have triggered immune responses in clinical studies and are favourable given the risk of adverse effects with natural vaccines. Four crucial aspects need to be considered for the design of carbohydrate-based vaccines (Astronomo and Burton, 2010): The antigen source: glycan antigens are diverse, ranging from large polysaccharide capsules, to small monosaccharides, to oligosaccharides, all of which have been shown to be adequate for preparation of vaccines. The carrier: this is most often proteins, although other materials have been investigated, with the aim of ensuring that the link between the antigen and the carrier is specific. The method of conjugation (or ligation): protein conjugates, lipid conjugates and polyvalent scaffold conjugates have been developed. The success of a conjugate vaccine depends partly on the method of conjugation employed. This should be simple and efficient, as well as causing minimal distortion to the individual components involved, with many differing techniques used (Zou Jennings, 2009; Ada and Isaacs, 2003). The choice of adjuvant: required to improve immunogenicity of the carbohydrate antigens being targeted, with a limited choice approved for use in humans. Examples of diseases targeted by carbohydrate-based vaccines The discussion will now move on to the use of carbohydrate-based vaccines in three disease areas: Group A Streptococcus (GAS), HIV/AIDS and Haemophilus influenza type b. GAS The need for a safe, effective, affordable and practical vaccine against GAS (also known as Streptococcus pyogenes), has been recognised for many years, as has the research into a vaccine against this disease, given the global burden on health that this disease causes in particular in less developed countries. More than 500,000 deaths result from the GAS each year, with the bacteria causing a range of both less complicated and life-threatening illnesses (Carapetis, Steer, Mulholland and Weber, 2005). The diversity of GAS strains is the major challenge for the development of an anti-GAS vaccine, with more than 100 different strains identified, of which the genetic sequence for several different strains have been determined (Johnson and Pinto, 2002). Research has identified that GAS bacteria contain a surface polysaccharide made up of long, repetitive polysaccharide chains. The conserved and constant arrangement of these chains suggests conjugate vaccines to be an attractive and achiev able option, with animal models supporting this theory (Cunningham, 2000). Synthetic carbohydrate vaccines, although only studied in a limited set of GAS infections, have demonstrated a protective immune response (Robbins et al., 2009). In addition, some areas of research have focused on the molecular analysis of a surface protein labelled the M protein, which is encoded by the emm gene. This particular gene has been found to be the major cause of GAS related clinical manifestations (Smeesters, McMillan and Sriprakash, 2010). These findings have allowed a greater understanding of the functioning of specific proteins responsible for the virulence of the disease, which in turn, supports the development of potential GAS vaccines. Vaccine prevention of GAS and the resulting symptoms and complications has been a goal of researchers for many years. A number of vaccines have been in research development to offer protection against GAS, with the research vaccine strategies focusing on eithe r M protein, or non-M protein antigens (Smeesters, 2014). However only those vaccines that use the M protein as the antigen have progressed to clinical trials (McNeil et. al., 2005), and have included conserved antigens coverage across the many strains of GAS, a type-specific vaccine based on the N-terminal portion of the M protein, and a recombinant vaccine that reached phase II clinical trials (Pandey, Wykes, Hartas, Good and Batzloff, 2013; Bauer, 2012). However no vaccine has currently reached licensing and so the diseases caused remain uncontrolled in many areas, with reviews covering the research suggesting that even those vaccines developed with the aim of providing large coverage of GAS strains, these vaccine might achieve acceptable coverage in developed countries, but in less developed countries where the disease burden is much greater, the positive impact of the vaccines would be much lower due to a greater strain diversity (Smeesters, McMillan, Sriprakash, and Georgousak is, 2009; Steer, Law, Matatolu, Beall and Carapetis, 2009; McMillan and Sanderson, 2013). Equally, antibiotic treatment is either impractical with regards to implementation (specifically in less developed countries) or ineffective. One research group targeted the bacteria by synthesising a new self-adjuvanting vaccine candidate, incorporating a carbohydrate carrier and an amino acid-based adjuvant, resulting in successful synthesis and characterisation of the vaccine candidate. This may contribute to the identification of a safe and effective vaccine against GAS in the future (Simerska et. al., 2008; Simerska, Lu and Toth, 2009). HIV/AIDS One of the main challenges researchers have faced within the field of vaccine development against HIV/AIDS, is that the virus surface is covered with layers of glycans, which conceal underlying viral antigens that are potential good targets in the production of vaccines (Scanlan, Offer, Zitzmann, and Dwek, 2007). They are produced by the host cell, which makes the virus appear as â€Å"self† resulting in no attack being triggered by the host immune system. The layers of carbohydrate also contain mannose residues, making these another potential target for a vaccine aimed at preventing HIV infection, whereby lectins preferentially bind to ? 1-2 linked mannose residues. Such lectins are being investigated as possible therapeutic tools (Tsai et al., 2004) although the fact that lectins are often toxic needs to be researched further to avoid the host immune system damaging host cells. Indeed, other drugs that are known to inhibit synthesis of carbohydrates only have this effect at often toxic concentrations to cause antiviral activity. Another strategy based on the same principle of developing a carbohydrate vaccine, is the identification of antibodies that again recognise and bind to glycans. (Scanlan et al., 2002, Scanlan et al., 2007). The antibody appears to recognize these glycans because although they belong to the host, they are arranged in a â€Å"non-self† manner (Scanlan et al., 2002; Scanlan et al., 2007), making the production of effective ant-HIV vaccines a real possibility, in addition to vaccines for other diseases such as cancer (Galonic and Gin, 2007). Studies have also been described using immune enhancing adjuvants, carrier peptides such as keyhole limpet hemocyanin and altered glycan structure constructs that support immune recognition in the development of vaccines against cancer (Galonic and Gin, 2007). These same strategies are being used in development of possible HIV vaccines, where antibodies target self-carbohydrates arranged slightly differently on cancer cells and HIV-infected cells, in comparison to healthy cells. (Galonic and Gin, 2007). These approaches have not as yet led to clinically effective vaccines, but it is clear that antibodies that strongly bind to carbohydrate antigens on, for example, prostate cancer cells, have been generated (Slovin et al., 2003) and this appears to be a highly promising approach. Further exploration is required based on the carbohydrate coat of the virus, which may lead to improved prevention treatment of HIV. Haemophilus influenza type b The first synthetic vaccine for human application was developed in 2003 for protection against Haemophilus influenza type b vaccine, not only providing protection against this bacterium, but also against all the associated diseases it causes ranging from meningitis, septicaemia, pneumonia and arthritis (Doshi, Shanbhag, Aggarwal, Shahare and Martis, 2011). Indeed this bacterium is the leading cause of serious illnesses in children under 5 years worldwide. The majority of strains of Haemophilus influenza are non-encapsulated, and are lacking in any carbohydrate polysaccharide protective structure, as opposed to the GAS bacteria and HIV virus described earlier. This structural information armed researchers with the knowledge that carbohydrate polysaccharide conjugate vaccines would be required to ensure the development of an effective vaccine (Verez-Bencomo et. al., 2004). As a result, carbohydrate-based vaccines have been licensed for protection in humans against haemophilus influenza type b, using oligomerization and a carrier protein (Doshi et. al., 2011). Evidence of progress To end this section of the discussion, several conjugate polysaccharide carbohydrate vaccines are now well into pre-clinical/clinical development, or have been licensed and are now commercially available. Examples of licensed vaccines include the following (Astronomo and Burton, 2010): Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) – 4 carbohydrate-based vaccines are licensed via 3 different pharmaceutical companies: ActHIB and Hiberix; Pentacel; PedvaxHIB; and Comvax Neisseria meningitides A, C, Y and W-135 – 2 carbohydrate-based vaccines are licensed via the same pharmaceutical company: Menactra; and Menomune-A/C/Y/W-135 Salmonella typhi – 1 carbohydrate- based vaccine is licensed: TYPHIM Vi Streptococcus pneumonia variants – 2 carbohydrate-based vaccines are licensed via 2 different pharmaceutical companies: Prevnar; and Pneumovax 23. Examples of carbohydrate-based vaccines in development include the following, where the disease is described in addition to the phase of development (Astronomo and Burton, 2010): Breast cancer – with 1 vaccine at the preclinical phase and a second at phase I Prostate cancer – 4 vaccines are in development at the preclinical, phase I and phase II stages HIV-1 – 1 vaccine at the preclinical phase Group A streptococcus – 1 vaccine at the preclinical phase Group B streptococcus – 1 vaccine at phase II. Conclusion It is fact that vaccines have had a major role to play in the success of preventing and treating many diseases, however many challenges remain. Diseases exist for which no effective vaccines have yet been discovered, including HIV/AIDs. In addition, diseases that have been controlled by vaccines in some parts of the world continue to affect the lives of people adversely in other areas where infrastructures for vaccination are poor/non-existent. Continued research is necessary to develop vaccines not only for those diseases with no vaccine available, but also to improve the effectiveness of existing vaccines. In addition to research focusing on novel and promising approaches such as carbohydrate and peptide based vaccines, efforts also need to concentrate on areas such as lower cost, more convenient delivery of vaccines, and longer-term protection. The future direction of research in this field has become focused with the help of new evidence-based information and promising data. The advent of synthetic peptide-based and carbohydrate-based vaccines signified a new era for vaccines, over-taking traditional treatments and vaccines which have become either ineffective or only offer short term protection. As the discussion demonstrates, a number of vaccines are already successfully protecting humans against some pathogens and disease, with the potential for further vaccines to follow. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it should be remembered that unlike drug-based medicines, vaccines primarily offer a cure, a goal all aim to achieve. Word count: 3130 (excluding references) References Ada, G. Isaacs, D. (2003). Carbohydrate-protein conjugate vaccines. Clinical Microbiology and Infection. 9(2): p. 79-85. Astronomo, R.D. Burton, D.R. (2010). Carbohydrate vaccines: developing sweet solutions to sticky situationsNature Reviews: Drug Discovery. 9: p. 30-324. Barrett, A.D.T. Stanberry, L.R. (Eds.). (2009). Vaccines for Biodefense and Emerging and Neglected Diseases. Elsevier Inc., ISBN 978-0-3-69408-9. Bauer M.J., Georgousakis M.M., Vu T., Henningham A., Hofmann A., Rettel M., Hafner L.M., Sriprakash K.S. McMillan D.J. (2012). Evaluation of novel streptococcus pyogenes vaccine candidates incorporating multiple conserved sequences from the C-repeat region of the M-protein. Vaccine. 30(12): p. 2197-2205. Ben-Yedidia, T. Arnon, R. (1997). Design of Peptide and Polypeptide Vaccines. Curr. Opin. Biotech. 8(4): p. 442-448). Carapetis, J.R., Steer, A.C., Mulholland E.K. Weber, M. (2005). The global burden of group A streptococcal diseases. Lancet Infect Dis. 5(11): p. 685-694. Cunningham M. (2000). Pathogenesis of group A streptococcal infections. Clin Microbiol Rev. 13: p. 470-511. Doshi, G.M., Shanbhag, P.P., Aggarwal, G.V., Shahare, M.D. Martis, E.A. Carbohydrate Vaccines- A burgeoning field of Glycomics. Journal of Applied Pharmaceutical Science 1(02): p. 17-22. Dudek, N.L., Perlmutter, P., Aguilar, M.I., Croft, N.P. Purcell, A.W. (2010). Epitope discovery and their use in peptide based vaccines. Curr Pharm Des. 16: p. 3149-3157. Flower, D.R. (2013). Designing immunogenic peptides. Nature Chemical Biology. 9(12): p. 749–753. Francis Jr, T. Tillett, W.S. (1930). Cutaneous reactions in pneumonia. The development of antibodies following the intradermal injection of type-specific polysaccharide. J. Exp. Med. 52: p. 573–585. Galonic, D.P. Gin, D.Y. (2007). Chemical glycosylation in the synthesis of glycoconjugate antitumour vaccines. Nature. 446: p. 1000–7. Heegaard, P.M.H., Dedieu, L., Johnson, N., Le Potier, M-F., Mockey, M., Mutinelli, F., Vahlenkamp, T., Vascellari, M. Sorensen, N.S. (2010). Adjuvants and delivery systems in veterinary vaccinology: current state and future developments. Arch Virol. 156(2):p. 183-202. Heidelberger, M., Dilapi, M.M, Siegel, Walter, A.W. (1950). Persistence of antibodies in human subjects injected with pneumococcal polysaccharides. J. Immunol. 65l: pp. 535–541. Holemann, A. Seeberger, P. (2004). Carbohydrate diversity: Synthesis of glycoconjugates and complex carbohydrates. Curr Opin In Biotech. 15(1): p. 615-622. Johnson, M.A. Pinto, B.M. (2002). Saturation transfer difference 1D-TOCSY experiments to map the topography of oligosacchraides recognised by a monoclonal antibody directed against the cell-wall polysaccharide group A streptococcus. J Am Chem Soc. 124: p. 15368-15374. McMillan, D.J., Sanderson-Smith, M.L., Smeesters, P.R. Sriprakash, K.S. (2013). Molecular markers for the study of streptococcal epidemiology. Current topics in microbiology and immunology. 368: p. 29-48. McNeil, S.A., Halperin, S.A., Langley, J.M., Smith, B., Warren, A., Sharratt, G.P., Baxendale, D.M., Reddish, M.A., Hu, M.C., Stroop, S.D., Linden, J., Fries, L.F., Vink, P.E. Dale, J.B. (2005). Safety and immunogenicity of 26-valent group A streptococcus vaccine in healthy adult volunteers. Clin Infect Dis. 41(8): p. 1114-22. Moisa, A.A. Kolesanova, E.F. (2012). Synthetic Peptide Vaccines, Insight and Control of Infectious Disease in Global Scenario. Dr. Roy Priti (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-51-0319-6. Moyle, P.M. Toth, I. (2008). Self-adjuvanting lipopeptide vaccines. Current Medicinal Chemistry. 15: p. 506–516. Pandey, M., Wykes, M.N., Hartas, J., Good, M.F. Batzloff M.R. (2013). Long-term antibody memory induced by synthetic peptide vaccination is protective against Streptococcus pyogenes infection and is independent of memory T cell help. Journal of immunology. 190(6): p. 2692-701. Plotkin, S.A., Orenstein, W.A. Offit, P,A. Eds (2013). Vaccines. 6th ed. Edinburgh: Elsevier/Saunders. Reche, P.A., Fernandez-Caldas, E., Flower, D.R., Fridkis-Hareli, M. Hoshino, Y. (2014). Peptide-Based Immunotherapeutics and Vaccines. Journal of Immunology Research. Editorial. 2014: 2 pages. Robbins, J.B., Kubler-Kielb, E., Vinogradov, E., Mocca, C., Pozsgay, V., Shiloach, J. Scheerson, R. (2009). Synthesis, characterisation, and immunogenicity in mice of Shigella sonnei O-specific, oligosaccharide-core-protein conjugates. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 106: p. 7974-7978. Scanlan, C.N., Pantophlet, R., Wormald, M.R., Ollmann Saphire, E., Stanfield, R., Wilson, I.A., Katinger, H., Dwek, R.A., Rudd, P.M. Burton, D.R. (2002). The broadly neutralizing anti-human immunodeficiency virus type 1 antibody 2G12 recognizes a cluster of alpha12 mannose residues on the outer face of gp120. J Virol. 76: p. 7306–21. Scanlan, C.N., Offer, J., Zitzmann, N. Dwek, RA. (2007). Exploiting the defensive sugars of HIV-1 for drug and vaccine design. Nature. 446: p. 1038–45. Simerska, P.,Abdel-Aal, A.B.M, Fujita, Y., Batzloff, Good, M.F. Toth, I. (2008). Synthesis and in vivo studies of carbohydrate-based vaccines against group A Streptococcus. Peptide Science. 90(5): p. 611-616. Simerska, P., Lu, H. Toth, I. (2009). Synthesis of a Streptococcus pyogenes vaccine candidate based on the M protein PL1 epitope. Bioorganic Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 19(3): p. 821-824. Simerska, P., Moyle, P.M. Toth, I. (2011). Modern lipid-, carbohydrate-, and peptide-based delivery systems for peptide, vaccine, and gene products. Med Res Rev. 31: p. 520-47. Slovin, S.F., Ragupathi, G., Musselli, C., Olkiewic,z K., Verbel,D., Kuduk, S.D., Schwarz, J.B., Sames, D., Danishefsky, S., Livingston, P.O. Scher, H.I. (2003). Fully synthetic carbohydrate-based vaccines in biochemically relapsed prostate cancer: clinical trial results with alpha-N-acetylgalactosamine-O-serine/threonine conjugate vaccine. J Clin Oncol. 21:p. 4292–8. Smeesters, P.R., McMillan, D.J. and Sriprakash, K.S. (2010). The streptococcal M protein: a highly versatile molecule. Trends Microbiol. 18: p. 275-282. Smeesters, P.R., McMillan, D.J., Sriprakash, K.S. Georgousakis, M.M. (2009). Differences among group A streptococcus epidemiological landscapes: consequences for M protein-based vaccinesExpert Rev Vaccines. 8(12): p. 1705-20. Smeesters, P.R. (2014). Immunity and vaccine development against Streptococcus pyogenes: is emm-typing enoughProc Belgian Roy Acad Med. 3: p. 89-98. Steer, A.C., Batzloff, M.R., Mulholland, K. Carapetis, J.R. (2009). Group A streptococcal vaccines: facts versus fantasy. Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases. 22(6): p. 544-552. Steer, A.C., Law, I., Matatolu, L., Beall, B.W. Carapetis, J.R. (2009). Global emm type distribution of group A streptococci: systematic review and implications for vaccine development. Lancet Infect Dis. 9(10): p. 611-6. Tsai, C.C., Emau, P., Jiang, Y., Agy, M.B., Shattock, R.J., Schmidt, A., Morton, W.R., Gustafson, K.R., Boyd M.R. (2004). Cyanovirin-N inhibits AIDS virus infections in vaginal transmission models. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 20(1): p. 11–18. Verez-Bencomo, V., Fernandez-Santana, V., Hardy, E., Toledo, M.E., Rodriguez, M.C., Heynngnezz, L., Rodriguez, A., Baly, A., Herrera, L., Izquierdo, M., Villar, A., Valdes, Y., Cosme, K., Deler, M.L., Montane, M., Garcia, E., Ramos, A., Aguilar, A., Medina, E., Torano, G., Sosa, I., Hernandez, I., Martinez, R., Muzachio, A., Carmenates, A., Costa, L., Cardoso, F., Campa, C., Diaz, M. Roy, R. (2004). A synthetic conjugate polysaccharide vaccine against Haemophilus influenzae type b. Science. 305(5683): p. 552-555. Wang, C.Y. Walfield, A.M. (2005). Site-specific peptide vaccines for immunotherapy and immunization against chronic diseases, cancer, infectious diseases, and for veterinary applications. Vaccine. 23(17-18): p. 2049–2056. Yang, D., Holt, G.E., Rudolf, M.P., Velders, M.P., Brandt, R.M.P., Kwon, E.D. Kast, W.M. (2001). Peptide Vaccines. In: New Vaccine Technologies. Chapter 12: p. 214-226. Zhong, W., Skwarczynski, M. Toth, I. (2009) Lipid Core Peptide System for Gene, Drug, and Vaccine Delivery. Australian Journal of Chemistry. 62: p. 956–967. Zou, W.. Jennings, H.J. (2009). Preparation of glycoconjugate vaccines. In: Carbohydrate-Based Vaccines and Immunotherapies. Chapter 2. How to cite Carbohydrate and Peptide – Based Vaccines: The Way Forward, Essay examples

Improving Data Transparency in Clinical Trials

Question: Discuss about the Improving Data Transparency in Clinical Trials. Answer: Introduction: The block chains are the distributed databases maintaining continuous growth of records ordered in lists called blocks. It is the public ledger of every Bitcoin transactions which have been executed. The completed blocks are incorporated to it leading to constant increase in size of the block chains. These blocks have been imposed over the blockchain in chronological order and linear manner. The research would be conducted around Bitcoins. The bitcoins has been developed as rewards in competitions where users offer power of computing to authenticate and record transfer of data into block-chains. The study would not reveal any other cases supported by the block-chains like smart contracts and the licensing. The study would describe the research. Then the evaluation of the contribution of block-chains with bitcoins has been discussed. A model to stimulate has been developed with its limitations and justifications. Lastly conclusion has been drawn on the key findings fitting to the research. At first the topic blockchain technology in Bitcoin is defined. Then the area of blockchain technology in Bitcoin is unfolded. The areas that are not to be included in this research are mentioned. Lastly the general findings from blockchain technology in Bitcoin are revealed. In the next section, the fiend of the review has been described. After describing the research, evaluation is done on the contribution of the research that has been done to the area. Next the limitations of blockchain technology in Bitcoin are shown. Lastly the section ends by mentioning the values of the limitations in the project. Then the best solution for the present situation is given. It important features are discussed. Its quality and contribution to the given research field is analyzed. A model is drawn stimulating it. Lastly conclusion is drawn upon the key findings from the review of blockchain technology in Bitcoin. Research description: Boyd Carr, (2016) researched that Blockchain is the decentralized method for data transaction in data management. It was first designed for the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. The interest in this field originated since the idea has been coined in the year of 2008. The reason behind this was its core attributes providing data integrity, anonymity and security. This has been done in the absence of a third party organization that could manage its transactions. Thus it created attractive areas of research. This has been especially from the view point of limitations and technical challenges. A systematic mapping of the study with the aim of gathering every relevant research on the technology of lock-chain is set. The main aim has been the understanding of the present challenges, future directions and topics of the research. Various online journals are studies. That show focus on the Bitcoin systems. Most of the studies has been dealing with reveal and improve of the Blockchains from the security and privacy view-points. Several of the proposed solutions have been lacking concrete discussion on the effectiveness. Many scalability of Block-chain involving the latency and throughput has been kept unstudied. Evaluation of the contribution of the research:The contribution of the research has been interesting to watch where it has been heading. Bitcoin has got many attentions in cryptocurrency. According to Gbel et al. (2016) more people has been buying and trading Bitcoins per day. Hence it has been crucial as a research topic. The research would attract the academia and industries to carry on further researches from both the technical and business perspectives. The Bitcoin has been the only solution to utilize the Blockchain technology. There has been various other cryptocurrencies currently who have been giving competition to Bitcoin. The future researches from this study might also involve other cryptocurrencies. The review would not only help in focusing on Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies but also highlight applications possible utilizing the solution of blockchain. Utilizing of decentralized scenario like the share of virtual properties could be a contribution of the research. This would revolutionize the approach in which the organizations would sell the products. Gipp, KostiBreitinger (2016) states that as the solutions of blockchain are used for more users, it would appreciate the reviews like this done on the technical challenges and limitations. The increase in sizes and bases of users has triggered to conduct this type of researches relating to the scalability. Moreover, the research will leave its impact on the privacy and security concerns. This would give birth to inventions of new areas to prevent the disturbance on blockchains. Limitations of the research:The systematic mapping of the research would enable the understanding of the present gaps in the research. Crosby et al., (2016) state thatone of the fundamental limitations on the study is relating to the publication bias. It refers that the problem that the positive outcomes are to be published more than that of the negative ones. This is because that the negative take much time to get published. Moreover, they have been less cited in the publications. Other limitation has been the selection bias. It refers to the distortion of the statistical analysis. This has been owing to the used criteria for selecting the publications. Lastly the there has been limitation regarding inaccuracy the extraction of data and the misclassification. This indicates the possibility of extraction of data differently by various reviewers. Importance of the research gaps in the project:As researched by Zheng et al., (2016) this identification of systematic mapping of the research would help the practitioners and the researchers to concentrate on research areas that need more researches. The seeking of the gaps of research would reply the unanswered queries in the present technology of blockchain. The addressing of the publication issue has brought the usage of various scientific databases. This is done within the search protocols to seek maximum number of papers. This has raised the quantity of papers found for this study along with raising the possibility to seek the papers with negative outcomes. Nonetheless, the Blockchain innovation has been considered as another subject in the software engineering industry. It has been further distributed as white papers inside the companies. Thus, all exploration led on the specialized perspectives on Blockchain could not been incorporated in this mapping study. In any case, by u sing just logical databases as hotspots for finding significant research, papers are gathered of higher quality. The issue of selection bias has been addressed by the developing o careful search protocols. Pilot searches could be done on various keywords ensuring what has been concluded from the study. Rigorous criteria for inclusion and the exclusion could be defined form this. This would ensure that every paper elected has been the section of the research topic (Bracamonte, Yamasaki Okada, 2016). Most of the researches relating to the block-chain have been relevant to the regulation, legal and economic factors of Bitcoin with the possibility of its cryptocurrency. The current selected solution at best: The solution is the data extraction and mapping process. Matzuttet al., (2016) claimed is designed to gather data required to address the queries of research in this review. The data items collected are the basic information regarding the study. It includes the objectives and major findings from the study. It helps to organize and assess the data. The selection and search outcomes are found from the process. There has been the Prisma-Flow model provided with the process. Many journals have been retrieved initially as the search protocol designed has been registered to the scientific databases selected. The initial round on the inclusion and the exclusion has been lying on the basis of the titles of the papers retrieved. Various papers excluded have been discussed from the business view-point of Bitcoin. They have not been included in the study. Retrieval of numerous papers relevant to other scientific fields where the Blockchain has another definition than technology in computer scie nce is done. The most important features have been the identification of security, wasted resources, usability and privacy. These have been good due to the identification of exchanging property of Bitcoin. This has caused economic harm for the clients. This fit into the research was said by Karame (2016). This is because there is a scope of introducing the audit software to increase the usability in the Bitcoin exchanges. The aim of this software has been to deduce the solvency of exchange participants. This could be done without the publication of crucial data. There has been connection between the buyer and the seller with limited layer for anonymity. This prevents the buyers to find and validate data in Bitcoin. Different models could be presented through which the rating or reputation could be imposed conjoining the transactions of Bitcon. This considers every pros and cons. These aspects could be improved. This could be done on the network of Bitcoin. Thus the usability is improved delivering extra data for users who have been making transactions. Limitations:Colombo (2016) argues that the technology of block-chain has certain challenges that are identified through the review. Several technical limitations identified in adapting the technology of block-chain in future are throughput, latency, bandwidth and size, security, wasted resources, usability and versioning with hard forks and multiple chains. They have been the limitations for certain reasons. The potential issues throughput in the network of Bitcoin presently gets maximized to transactions per second. In order to develop enough protection for the transaction block of Bitcoin, it takes 10 minutes to finish a transaction roughly. In order to gain security efficiency, more time has to be spent in the blocks. This is because it has been outweighing the expense of couple of attacks. Currently the block-chains size in the network of Bitcoin has been over five hundred thousand megabytes. The community of Bitcoin assumes that the quantity of each block has been one mega bytes. The block has been created for every ten minutes. Dwyer (2016) discusses that this causes limitations in the quantity of transactions to be handled. In the security section the present block-chain at Bitcoin can have 51% attack. The mining at Bitcoin has been wasting large quantity of energy about fifteen million dollars per day. This has been the reason of effort of proof-of-work. The API of Bitcoin to develop services has been hard to use. There has been the requirement to design an API for blockchain that is more developer-friendly. This resembles the REST APIs many times. Small chains that comprises of lower quantity of nodes possess high chances of fifty-one percent attack. Another problem arises as the chains have been split for versioning and administrative purposes (Krug Peterson, 2015). These limitations fit to the review as the blockchain posses the ability to alter the method of transactions. Moreover, the block-chains applications have not been limited to the crypto currencies. The data integrity attributes of security and the anonymity has been suffering from various restrictions and obstacles. They are assesses and resolved in this research. Scalability has been another problem which has been also mentioned in this study. This research would help in identifying the present status done by blockchain. Conclusion: The research has continued to seek several problems and solutions to overcome the limitations of the technology of Block-chain. Most of the study has concentrated on addressing the challenges. Every block comprises of a timestamp. It comprises of links to previous blocks. As recorded once, the block-chains have been resistant inherently to any kind of modification of data. Maximum researches on block-chain of present day have been concerned about the security and privacy issues. It has conducted scalability problems on the Blockchain. The review has evaluated the ability of the solutions suggested in an aim of the evaluation criteria. The limitations are searched and the way it has been valuable to the project is found out. A suitable model is drawn justifying the best solution selected. Though various solutions to the limitations and solutions are presented but few of them has been just small proposals and lack strong assessment on the effectiveness. References: Boyd, C., Carr, C. (2016, July). Fair Client Puzzles from the Bitcoin Blockchain. InAustralasian Conference on Information Security and Privacy(pp. 161-177). Springer International Publishing. Bracamonte, V., Yamasaki, S., Okada, H. (2016). A Discussion of Issues related to Electronic Voting Systems based on Blockchain Technology. Colombo, R. J. (2016). Bitcoin: Hype or Harbinger.J. Int'l Bus. L.,16, 1. Crosby, M., Pattanayak, P., Verma, S., Kalyanaraman, V. (2016). Blockchain technology: Beyond bitcoin.Applied Innovation,2, 6-10. Dwyer, G. P. (2016). Blockchain: A Primer. English, S. M., Nezhadian, E. (2017). Conditions of Full Disclosure: The Blockchain Remuneration Model.arXiv preprint arXiv:1703.04196. Ferrin, D. (2015). A Preliminary Field Guide for Bitcoin Transaction Patterns. InProc. Texas Bitcoin Conf. Gipp, B., Kosti, J., Breitinger, C. (2016). Securing Video Integrity Using Decentralized Trusted Timestamping on the Bitcoin Blockchain. Gbel, J., Keeler, H. P., Krzesinski, A. E., Taylor, P. G. (2016). Bitcoin blockchain dynamics: The selfish-mine strategy in the presence of propagation delay.Performance Evaluation,104, 23-41. Hari, A., Lakshman, T. V. (2016, November). The Internet Blockchain: A Distributed, Tamper-Resistant Transaction Framework for the Internet. InProceedings of the 15th ACM Workshop on Hot Topics in Networks(pp. 204-210). ACM. Karame, G. (2016, October). On the Security and Scalability of Bitcoin's Blockchain. InProceedings of the 2016 ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security(pp. 1861-1862). ACM. Krug, J., Peterson, J. (2015). Sidecoin: a snapshot mechanism for bootstrapping a blockchain.arXiv preprint arXiv:1501.01039. Matzutt, R., Hohlfeld, O., Henze, M., Rawiel, R., Ziegeldorf, J. H., Wehrle, K. (2016, October). POSTER: I Don't Want That Content! On the Risks of Exploiting Bitcoin's Blockchain as a Content Store. InProceedings of the 2016 ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security(pp. 1769-1771). ACM. Miscione, G., Kavanagh, D. (2015). Bitcoin and the Blockchain: A Coup D'tat through Digital Heterotopia?. Nugent, T., Upton, D., Cimpoesu, M. (2016). Improving data transparency in clinical trials using blockchain smart contracts [version 1; referees: awaiting peer review]. Zheng, Z., Xie, S., Dai, H. N., Wang, H. (2016). Blockchain Challenges and Opportunities: A Survey.

Personality Tests and Employee Selection

Personality Tests According to Krilowicz and Lowery (1996), â€Å"the determining force behind the effectiveness of an organization is the quality of its human resources† (p. 55). The personality tests are the techniques that enable organizations to make a reasonable decision regarding the employee selection and, therefore, they are beneficial to a significant extent.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Personality Tests and Employee Selection specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More According to research findings, personality affects the job performance and work productivity significantly (Krilowicz Lowery, 1996, p. 55). The interest towards the pre-employment personality testing is continuously growing. By uncovering the personal traits of a potential employee, the organizations attempt to increase the overall organizational performance and achieve the long-term positive financial results. Any job implies the individual’s ability to fulfill particular tasks and duties both physically and mentally. In this way, the individual differences make some people more appropriate for working in the position of the security guard than others. Along with the job interviews, the organizations commonly implement various instruments for assessment of personal skills and knowledge of the future employees. Personality testing provides evidence supporting or disapproving individual’s self-presentation and makes managerial decision-making more valid. It may be regarded as the main strength of the personality testing in the employee selection process. According to Bouton and Moore (2011), â€Å"the most ominous business concern of using the wrong assessment is the risk of discrimination litigation† (p. 144). First of all, the testing and personality assessment instruments must meet the legal regulations, and they must ensure that the choice is made in correspondence with the principles of equality and ethics. The limitations of personality testing are also related to the fact that testing allows analyzing the personal traits on the surface level and doesn’t necessarily help to predict the patterns of the individual’s behavior development in the future (Goffin et al., 2011, p. 646). The development of the personality testing criteria is essential to the receiving of reliable and valid testing results. The employee selection criteria are usually based on organizational values, missions, and visions, and the traditional job requirements (Bouton Moore, 2011, p. 145).Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More A potential employee is expected to be able to execute the job-related tasks and fulfill the necessary responsibilities. In their research, Bouton and Moore (2011) recommend using â€Å"a suite of three instruments including a behavioral assessm ent, a motivation or values instrument, and a judgment style piece† because they were found to be very precise and based on reasoning (p. 145). One of the most frequently used personality assessment instruments in the working settings is the TEA Personality Test that is represented in the questionnaire format (Arribas-Aguila, 2011, p. 121). According to the findings of the Spanish researchers, the TEA Test’s psychometric properties are characterized by a high level of â€Å"construct validity, factorial solution fitness,† and reliability (Arribas-Aguila, 2011, p. 121). According to the research findings, the TEA subtests’ reliability values were ranged from 0.55 to 0.86 Cronbach’s alpha, and the given coefficients were higher than the coefficients reported in the test’s technical manual (Arribas-Aguila, 2011, p. 123). Despite the fact that personality assessment is proved to be helpful in employee selection process, some researchers claim tha t personality and behavioral measures have low levels of reliability and validity (Morgeson et al., 2007, p. 1032). â€Å"Scores on personality inventories are likely to be correlated with a number of variables that are of interest to organizational researchers;† although the scores may be relevant for investigation of employees’ behavior within the organizations, they are considered to be â€Å"poor predictors of criteria such as job performance and are difficult to justify as the basis for making high-stakes decisions about individuals† (Morgeson et al., 2007, p. 1032). It is also observed that the correlations between the working performance and personality measures estimated through the meta-analysis remained consistently low. Therefore, Morgeson and colleagues (2007) recommend the organizational managers to take the low validity levels into consideration during the application of the personality testing, interpretation of scores, and the decision-making. Pr ojective and Objective Tests In the personality assessment practice, the tests are divided into two major groups: objective and projective. According to Meyer and Kurtz (2006), â€Å"the term objective typically refers to instruments in which the stimulus is an adjective, proposition, or question that is presented to a person who is required to indicate how accurately it describes his or her personality using a limited set of externally provided response options† (p. 223).Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Personality Tests and Employee Selection specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The instruments of objective personality testing include multiple-answer questionnaires (yes/no, true/false), Likert scale, and others. The given instruments are called objective because their interpretation and analysis are not dependent on the personal judgment that implies a high level of subjectivity. In objective tests, th e answers are scored according to the preliminarily established patterns (Meyer Kurtz, 2006, p. 223). The interpretation of objective tests is based on the comparison with the related previous normative results, and it is the examiner’s responsibility to identify the extent to which the assessed personality matches the normative characteristics. â€Å"The term projective typically refers to instruments in which the stimulus is a task or activity that is presented to a person who is required to generate a response with minimal external guidance or constraints imposed on the nature of that response† (Meyer Kurtz, 2006, p. 223). The lack of external guidance in the projective tests implies the presence of ambiguity in the way the test’s questions are formed. Through answering such ambiguous questions, an individual reveals his/her personal traits. According to the idealistic understanding of the concept of objective test, the results received through the applicat ion of this method must be characterized by excellent reliability and accuracy rates. The term of objective test substantially excludes the biasing effects and misinterpretation of scores. However, in practice scoring and interpretation errors occur frequently and become a concern of multiple research studies. Moreover, the â€Å"frank distortion† in answering the questions leads to misinterpretation of scores and reduction of test’s objectivity and level of precision (Meyer Kurtz, 2006, p. 223). In the projective tests, it is expected that a person will project her personal traits and features through response to the specifically designed situations and conditions. However, not all the testing instruments that are meant as projective necessarily meet the requirements of the term. For example, according to Meyer and Kurtz (2006), â€Å"responses to the Rorschach inkblots often have more to do with stimulus classification and problem solving styles than to projectionà ¢â‚¬  (p. 224). Rorschach’s test is also characterized by a high level of response variability and complexity that may interfere with the successful interpretation of the scores.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to Sartori (2010), the personality tests may be divided into two groups according to their internal characteristics of efficiency and aesthetics (p. 757). â€Å"Projective techniques seem more beautiful, mysterious, interesting and attractive (aesthetic assessment), while psychometric tests seem more credible, transparent, repeatable, liable to falsification and scientific (efficacy assessment)† (Sartori, 2010, p. 757). According to the investigation of the face validity (extent to which the test seem to be valid to the participants) of both tests, from the overall sample of 238 individuals, the projective tests were preferred by 124 examinees while the objective (psychometric) tests were chosen by 38 people (Sartori, 2010, p. 758). The participants of the study found projective tests such as Rorschach’s test more attractive and curious and believed that these tests can reveal their personality more effectively. Behavioral Measures The psychological testing m ay be extremely useful for the selection of the security forces personnel because it can allow organizations to avoid the undesirable results through prediction of the individual’s performance and behavior. According to Forero, Gallardo-Pujol, Maydeu-Olivares, and Andrà ©s-Pueyo (2009), â€Å"the Five Factor personality model† that is used â€Å"as a communication tool between professionals on personality results† helps to predict the multiple dimensions of individual’s performance and abilities (p. 592). The model allows assessment of such criteria as openness, consciousness, activity, and vulnerability, and through evaluation of the given aspects of individual’s test performance, it is possible to measure and predict his/her behavior in the workplace. According to Forero and colleagues (2009), the personal traits (openness, positive emotions, vulnerability, etc.) are â€Å"important personality factors† for police and security forces†™ job performance (p. 593). By focusing on these personality patterns in relation to discipline and personal motivation, it is possible to assess the potential employee’s behavior and level of fitting to the position requirements. Standardized Personality Tests According to Barrett and colleagues (2003), the standardized tests that may be implemented in the law enforcement or security selection battery include the Multiphasic Personality Inventory, the Clinical Interview, the Personal History Questionnaire, Psychological Inventory, and the 16 Personality Factor (p. 498). According to Forero and colleagues (2009), the given tests are characterized by the adequate reliability and data validity – in a short-term interval, the average test-retest reliability coefficient in the study was 0.83 (p. 593). The standardized TEA Personality Test may also be included in the employee selection battery. The test is designed to assess the dimensions of emotional stability, openness , and responsibility. The test’s normative data is based on â€Å"a representative sample of 15,509 adults in the work context (23.3% males and 76.6% females)† (Arribas-Aguila, 2011, p. 122). APA Guidelines According to American Psychological Association (2016a), one of the purposes of the personality assessment is â€Å"increase the accuracy of behavioral prediction in a variety of contexts and settings† (par. 1). However, the efficiency of the assessment procedures depends on the level of psychologist’s competence and knowledge of the tests’ psychometric properties, issues of validity and reliability, limitations, group norms, etc. According to American Psychological Asscoication’s standard 2.01 â€Å"Boundaries of Competence† (2016b), â€Å"psychologists provide services, teach and conduct research with populations and in areas only within the boundaries of their competence† (par. 6). Therefore, it is important to be aware o f one’s gaps in knowledge related to personality testing. In case a psychologist doesn’t have sufficient expertise, it is recommended for him/her to refrain from the conduction of test. Otherwise, the scores may be misinterpreted, and the standards of professional behavior will be violated. References American Psychological Association. (2016a). Personality Assessment. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ed/graduate/specialize/personality.aspx American Psychological Association. (2016b). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx?item=5#201b Arribas-à guila, D. (2011). Psychometric properties of the TEA personality test: Evidence of reliability and construct validity. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 27(2), 121-126. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000057 Barrett, G. V., Miguel, R. F., Hurd, J. M., Lueke, S. B., Tan, J. A. (2003). Practical issues in the use of personality test s in police selection. Public Personnel Management, 32(4), 497-517. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/215942646?accountid=458 Bouton, M., Moore, M. (2011). The cult of personality testing: Why assessments are essential for employee selection. The Journal of Medical Practice Management: MPM, 27(3), 144-149. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/916422194?accountid=458 Forero, C., Gallardo-Pujol, D., Maydeu-Olivares, A., Andrà ©s-Pueyo, A. (2009). A Longitudinal Model for Predicting Performance of Police Officers Using Personality and Behavioral Data. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 36(6), 591-606. Goffin, R., Rothstein, M., Rieder, M., Poole, A., Krajewski, H., Powell, D.,†¦Mestdagh, T. (2011). Choosing job-related personality traits: Developing valid personality-oriented job analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 646–651. Krilowicz, T. J., Lowery, C. M.. (1996). Evaluation of Personality Measures for the Selection of Textile Employees. Journal of Business and Psychology, 11(1), 55–61. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25092533 Meyer, G., Kurtz, J. (2006). Advancing personality assessment terminology: Time to retire â€Å"objective† and â€Å"projective† as personality test descriptors. Journal of Personality Assessment, 87(3), 223–225. Morgeson, F. P., Campion, M. A., Dipboye, R. L., Hollenbeck, J. R., Murphy, K., Schmitt, N. (2007). Are we getting fooled again? Coming to terms with limitations in the use of personality tests for personnel selection. Personnel Psychology, 60(4), 1029-1049. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/220134369?accountid=458 Sartori, R. (2010). Face validity in personality tests: Psychometric instruments and projective techniques in comparison. Quality and Quantity, 44(4), 749-759. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11135-009-9224-0 This assessment on Personality Tests and Employee Selection was written and submitted by user Kristen W. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. 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The Effects of Satire essays

The Effects of Satire essays Often authors use satire to put a point across in their writing. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley; Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury; and The Handmaids Tale, Margaret Atwood are all good examples of such satire. Each of these authors mock society in the way they feel it will be in the future if some of the actions that society takes go too far. They all do this by describing a different kind of Utopia. There are forms of brainwashing, censorship, control and fear in each novel which then lead to some sort of rebellion because of personal conflicts. Huxley uses satire in his novel to describe what he is thinking about technology today. In Brave New World there is a convention where babies are artificially produced. There is no such thing as reproducing humans sexually. There is still such a thing as sex, yet it is strictly for pleasure only. There are so many new ways to produce humans technologically today and Huxley is stating that if society doesnt control such technology that the technology will soon take control of us. Our society could turn out to be that of a Brave New World. In Bradburys Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury is satirizing technology also. Bradbury uses a thing called the Parlour Family. This is a room that has something much like a television studio. The main character, Guy Montag has one of these. His wife is constantly glued to it and calls the people her family. She is more involved with her parlour family that she almost forgets Guy is there most of the time. This parlour represents the television or even the computer and the internet. Technology is so advanced today that Bradbury is predicting how technological it will be in the future. He is depicting people of today who are constantly glued to a television or computer. Bradbury is putting across that society must not let technology tare you away from your family and friends. People should get out and do more then wa...

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Plato's - Essay Example This theory is actually very crucial in explaining Plato’s epistemological position. Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that explains knowledge. This branch of philosophy seeks an explanation of the characteristics that can be used to distinguish the knowledge that is adequate and the one that is inadequate. Epistemological positions are views of philosophers about the issue of what constitutes adequate and inadequate knowledge. Rationalism is one of the epistemological positions that dominate philosophy. According to Heylighen (par. 3), rationalism is viewing knowledge as a product of rational reflection. The rational reflection is a product of personal innate experience that an individual develops over time. Plato’s general rationalism is the basis of Plato’s epistemological position. According to this rationalism, knowledge is an awareness of absolute, universal ideas or forms that exist independent of subject (Heylighen par. 2). This rationalism identifies what could be philosophically regarded as knowledge according to Plato. The thesis of this paper is that this methodology used by Plato was successful in identifying what could be regarded as knowledge regardless of subjects. This thesis is explained and evaluated in the remaining part of the paper. Plato views knowledge from an angle different from other philosophers. According to Scaltsas (1), Plato views knowledge as a mental power that is very different from other mental powers like opinion, sight, and hearing. This is because of its unique ability to influence other mental powers. It is knowledge that enhances interpretation of information acquired through hearing and seeing. This shows that knowledge is a much stronger mental power compared to these other mental powers. Moreover, Plato in his theory of knowledge draws a distinction between things and form. He perceives things as aspects of reality perceived through senses

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World Civilization - Ideologies - Term Paper Example Neither the USA nor the USSR ever actually fought a war, but they did fight proxy wars, each one supplying arms and ammunition to the side that believed in their ideology. The war between North and South Vietnam is a case in point. Although both the USA and the USSR stayed out of the war, South Vietnam which was anti communist had the backing of the Americans and was supplied with the materials needed to fight the North Vietnamese who were communists. The USSR in its turn, backed the North Vietnamese and supplied them with war material. One would have thought that if Russia and America fought side by side during the second world war, there would be a friendly relationship between them. However, a closer look reveals that it was only the common enemy - Hitler, who brought these two nations together and their underlying differences took a backseat till the end of the war. Once the war was over, as Winston Churchill famously remarked, "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriat ic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent." (Churchill, 1946) No one person can be held responsible for the cold war. The clash of ideologies - USSR’s Communism and Socialism versus America’s Democracy and Capitalism; and the fact that each thought that her own ideology was best, and felt threatened by the opposing ideology, is the real cause of the cold war. One could argue, that the cold war came about due to Russia’s aggression in Eastern Europe. On the other hand, if the US had only had the good sense to see that Russia was just trying to create a buffer zone between the east and the west, possibly to prevent further invasion from Germany; perhaps the world might have been spared the tensions and problems created by over four decades of the cold war. Each side viewed the ideology of the other with suspicion and fear, and was lulled into a false belief that it alone held the key that would ensure the happiness and prosperity of mankind. It seems that both the USA and the USSR tried to push their own interests, and in so doing created misunderstandings, that at times brought them to the brink of nuclear war. In the beginning, the cold war was limited to taking sides in wars that were fought by other nations, that subscribed to opposing ideologies; but the real danger was posed when both the USA and the USSR began to amass weapons of mass destruction. Although the cold war was spread over a period of over four decades, it went through periods of high tension followed by phases of relative calm. The Bay of Pigs crisis in Cuba in 1962, when the two superpowers came to the brink of war, had the effect of sobering the two nations, who decided to set up a hotline between them to be able to speak directly in times of crisis. Soon after this both the USA and the USSR agreed to a Nuclear test ban Treaty. According to some historians, this was the beginning of the end of the cold war. In 1972, the USSR and the USA led by Brezhnev and Nixon, announced a policy of peaceful coexistence, strengthening economic ties and signing agreements for increased trade. By the time Reagan became president, the Soviet Union had once again become the â€Å"empire of evil†, till in the second term of his presidency, Reagan was lauded as the architect of ending the cold war. Jack Matlock Jr, who was the US ambassador to Moscow under Reagan, says, Reagan "wanted to reduce the threat of war, to convince the Soviet leaders that cooperation could serve the Soviet peoples better than confrontation and to encourage openness and democracy in the Soviet Union." (Matlock, Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended) At the time the USSR too had got a leader whose ideas

Analysis of Ghanas Economic Growth

Analysis of Ghanas Economic Growth An analytical review of the effect of conflict, politics and resources on the economic growth of the country. 1.0. Introduction 1.1. Ghana in 1957 Some fifty years ago, Dr Kwame Nkrumah stood before a throng of cheering fellow Ghanaians, proclaiming independence from the British Empire. â€Å"At long last, the battle is ended†, he bellowed triumphantly, â€Å"Ghana, your beloved country is free forever† (Nkrumah, 2007). Such were the words that signalled the end of British rule and the start of a new era for the former Gold Coast, which had succeeded in becoming the first independent nation in Africa. By doing so, she set a hopeful precedent to other former colonies which would shortly and eagerly follow in Ghana’s footsteps. For the â€Å"model colony† the future, at this point, looked bright. As a nation with â€Å"advantages of wealth and attainment unrivalled in topical Africa† (Meredith, 2005, 22), Ghana was expected to take the world by storm, swiftly join the ranks of the industrial nations, and proudly serve as a shining example to the post-colonial world (Dzorgbo, 2002, 2-3). There was nothing far-fetched about this optimism. She was, in 1957, one of the most economically advanced countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Income per head was double that of the Tanganikans, substantially more than the Zambians, and almost on a par with the Rhodesians (Alpine and Pickett, 1993, 64). Contributing to this private wealth was the lucrative trade in the export of cocoa whose production Ghana dominated by this time. Such a presence within the international commodity market helped shore up the already substantial amounts of foreign reserve her government held. Yet all of this failed to happen. Several years after independence, Ghana’s economy began to totter, her foreign reserves evaporated, and reckless public spending placed the country on a financial precipice – all this by the end of the 1960s (Konadu-Agyeman, 2000, 473). There was to be no let-up. The economic downturn continued into the 1970s where Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell more than three percent each year. Price inflation averaged at around 50 to 100 percent. Worse was to follow. By the beginning of the 1980s, inflation reached more than 100 percent, GDP levels fell further into the abyss, and one of the worst famines hit the country (Sandbrook, 1982, 2). Nothing, it now seemed, could go right. She had little choice but to solicit help from abroad. 1.2. International intervention and neo-liberalism Following the implementation of economic restructuring programmes, created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, Ghana finally emerged out of her desperate trough in 1983. Inevitably questions were asked. Why had Ghana struggled for so long? How could she so comprehensively dash the hope and goodwill in the immediate years after independence? Many factors, in the view of the IMF, had contributed to her demise: mismanagement, over-regulation, failure to tackle inflation, and currency over-evaluations headed the depressingly long list (Konadu-Agyeman, 2000, 473). Correspondingly, strings were attached to how IMF funds were to be used: the devaluing of the currency, the Cedi; the withdrawal of subsidies; the retrenchment of labour; the reduction in public expenditure; and the liberalisation of trade and exchange controls. Such measures, which took their cue from a resurgent neo-liberalism, have proved to be a mixed blessing. Even though, on the one hand, the adoption of these policies helped rein in inflation, created steady currency fluctuations and boosted the production of cocoa, they also led, on the other hand, to increased unemployment, ushered in stiff and unfettered competition from abroad, and generated substantial social discontent. So much of the welfare state had been taken away, in fact, that the weak and the poor were falling through the net. But a final verdict on the effectiveness of these policies is still too early to call. Even so, it would be true to say that many of these neoliberal suggestions, which underpin the IMF’s Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP), have not come from an appreciation of the peculiarities of the African predicament in general or the Ghanaian one in particular. Rather they draw from the successes of the East Asian Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs) which, it is argued, managed to free themselves from the shackles of perennial underdevelopment by creating growth through the export of value-added products. Such a way of proceeding, it has been reasoned, could be replicated within the African context. Much of the reason why Ghana failed in the years after independence from developing economically, this model suggests, was because she promoted a policy of protectionism. Rather than achieve industrial growth and economic development Nkrumah said it would, his policy of Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI), which erected tariffs so as to nurture domestic industry, did the opposite and halted diversification and competitiveness. All of which had now come home to roost, in the opinion of neo-liberalists, who now called on government to shrink. The new policy of SAP, based on exports, has at first glance much to recommend it, especially with regard to Ghana. Even a cursory look at Ghana’s colonial past yields firm illustration of why an export-based economy could make sense. During the days of the British Empire, Ghana had been forced to open up to the international market not least because she offered precious resources and material such as gold, sugar and cotton. Such a colonial emphasis on international trade, to be sure, substantially benefited the colonisers and not the colonised. Even though the British emphasis on exports had the effect of neglecting domestic industry, the legacy the Empire left behind was nonetheless one in which the economy thrived on her exports (Frimpong-Ansah, 1991, 67). Counterfactually-speaking, therefore, had Nkrumah implemented economic policies which aimed to promote exports rather than seek to curtail them, then Ghana may have been spared from the title question: what are you doing here? 1.3. Problems and solutions for the Ghanaian economy If only things were that simple. Even though one might forcibly argue that Ghana’s economy is orientated towards the international market, the kind of exports she has traditionally exported – and is currently exporting – would not have contributed much towards sustained growth. Nor do present circumstances hold hope that things would be any different either. Primarily, as the World Trade Organization has outlined, Ghana is still â€Å"heavily dependent on agriculture, especially cocoa, and on natural resources, notably minerals. Primary production accounts for almost half of GDP; agriculture at 40%, is the most important sector. Manufacturing contributes some 10% of GDP. Services are the second largest component† (WTO, 2001). Much of this primitiveness must be sought, once more, in British colonial policy, which saw little need to invest any substantial sums into creating a more sturdy and versatile infrastructure. Raw materials, such as Ghanaian cocoa, were kept just that – raw – to keep prices down, prevent competition to British firms by not having processing facilities, and turn Ghanaian subjects into obedient consumers of the finished product that would be shipped in from abroad. As Immanual Wallerstein put it with reference to Africa generally: â€Å"Whatever the motive for entering the world agricultural market and whatever the social organization of export production, each colonial administration, as the political arm of the metropole, sought to tie a segment of the African population into the larger imperial economy either as independent producers or as wage-workers, and in all cases as consumers† (Wallerstein, 1986, 18). He could have just as well been talking about Ghana. Such colonial legacies mean that even today Ghana’s raw materials continue to be dictated by external conditions. Since primary products are easily affected by the vagaries of the weather as well as by the fluctuating international market, export-led economic development would almost certainly prove to be a bumpy ride. More specifically, it means that: â€Å"When stocks are low and pries high farmers can increase their planting, but they cannot compress the time it takes crops to ripen to harvest When farmers eventually increase production, prices fall as supplies quickly outgrow demand in importing countries, given that demand does not grow significantly in response to lower prices. The result is a pattern of short-lived booms followed by lingering slumps† (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2004). Such descriptions invoke a viscous circle from which Ghana would find hard to escape. From this lesson follows the glaring need to diversify the country’s economic base, if it is to avoid the ‘booms’ and ‘slumps’ of an economy ensconced within agriculture. â€Å"While traditional exports, such as cocoa and gold, may remain an important source of growth and foreign exchange in the future,† the World Bank contends, â€Å"export diversification will be necessary to accelerate economic growth and poverty reduction and to decrease Ghana’s vulnerability to external price shocks† (World Bank, 2001,1). To be fair, it has not been from a lack of effort that Ghana has failed to diversity sufficiently, for political circumstances have repeatedly conspired to hold up any sustained drive. Liberal approaches to economic development, which Nkrumah’s successors aimed at, fell fowl of a coup, while two later regimes which tried to develop indigenous strategies of development were ousted in similar circumstances. Clearly political conflict and change have impacted hard on Ghana’s economic growth – arguably negatively on the whole – and, if the IMF anoraks are in any way right, stability in the present governmental set-up would finally lead the country to the elusive goal that had seemed possible during the few years after independence. 1.4. Objectives and organization Enmeshed within all these complicated factors, which this introduction has served to outline, the economic growth of Ghana must, at least for the moment, take place within the neo-liberal strictures imposed by the IMF, which has set great store by small government and export-led growth. Conflict, politics and resources will, in this investigation, be reviewed therefore need to take account of the domestic as well as international setting, so as arrive at a more rounded appreciation of how all these factors have affected economic growth in Ghana. Looking at past attempts to create economic growth as well as current trade policies designed to do the same, this study will offer both a historical as well as a contemporary analysis of the Ghanaian economy. Perhaps reaching beyond the remit of the brief, the study will also powerfully suggest that, as things stand as they do, Ghana’s economic future is set to remain a bleak one. More favourable rules of trade must be implemented, the thesis recommends, without which she will not be able to continue to diversify her economic base. To illustrate these points, the investigation is divided into the following chapters. Chapter two, below, will review some of the basic economic models which have found application in Ghana since her days as a colony of the British Empire. Chapter three will then focus on the implementation of these development theories from a historical perspective, analysing the various regimes as well as their ideological leanings which contributed to the kind of policies they came up with. Chapter four will then assume a more specific and contemporary focus, reviewing the extent to which international agreement on trade has impacted on economic growth in Africa in general and in Ghana in particular. Finally, chapter five will consider how tariff and non-tariff barriers, with reference to the EU, have influenced the shape of the Ghanaian economy. 2.0. Theories of Economic Development Before this investigation can examine in detail how various factors have influenced Ghana’s economic growth, one should stop to consider the kind of economic thinking that has undergirded the disparate policies she has resorted to in order to achieve prosperity down the years. Such a detour is necessary if we are to fully appreciate the broader economic and political climates in which policies have been conceived. 2.1. Free trade and nationalism During her time as a colony of the British Empire, Ghana had been forced to adopt a mercantilist system of trade which functioned as the principle form of economic thinking that dictated the way nations engaged with each other, economically-speaking, until the late eighteenth century. Much of modern economic thinking grew out of a backlash against this closed system, which put the nation before the individual and which saw wealth as finite. Inspired by the work of Adam Smith, who wrote his seminal The Wealth of Nations in 1776, liberals criticized how mercantilism elevated the position of the state out of all proportion to the role it should play in the functioning of the economy. By contrast, Smith felt that the state should limit itself to providing three basic duties to society: First, the duty of protecting the society from violence and invasion of other independent societies; secondly, the duty of protecting, as far as possible, every member of the society from the injustice or oppression of every other member of it, or the duty of establishing inexact administration of justice; and thirdly, the duty of erecting and maintaining certain public works and certain public institutions which it can never be for the interest of any individual, or small number of individuals to erect and maintain; because the profit could never repay the expense to any individual or small number of individuals, thought it may frequently do much more than repay it to a great society.(Smith, 1863, 286) From this basic framework, in which the individual would have access to basic rights and protection from violence, Smith recommended that the government retreat and allow the individual to develop on their own, especially with regard to economics. â€Å"Every man, as long as he does not violate the laws of justice†, he proclaimed, â€Å"is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest his own way, and to bring both his industry and capital into competition with those of any other man, or order of men.† Not only did he feel his thinking needed to apply to the domestic sphere but also the international one too, for â€Å"commerce, which ought naturally to be, among nations, as among individuals, a bond of union and friendship† had broken down into a series of international conflicts because homos economicus operated from the assumption that they had to steal from one another rather than share the wealth available. More specifically liberal thinking envisaged a world based on three pillars: first was the belief that free trade promoted economic growth and consumption; second, that it improves societal values and ideals; and third, that free trade would promote a more peaceful international environment because greater interdependence would lead to a convergence of interests among societies (Harlen, 1999, 735). Most pioneering in the implementation of these ideals was Britain which threw down the gauntlet to her rivals by tearing down protectionist barriers, such as the Corn Laws, in the middle of the nineteenth century at a time when mercantilism dictated the opposite and discouraged trade between European powers. Soon European countries followed suite in gradually adopting policies that were more liberal in outlook. Nations such as France, Sweden, Belgium, Portugal and Spain all moved towards the liberalization of their tariff system. But such an open period proved to be short-lived as nationalistic concerns rowed the liberal boat back to shore. By the 1870s, for example, Austria-Hungary increased duties and Germany followed at the end of the decade; France also upped her tariffs in 1881, modestly initially, then sharply in 1892, while other countries returned the favour in kind (Krasner, 1975, 325). Much of the problem had been that, in following Britain, which had embarked upon industrialization much earlier than the European continent, the benefits which European countries could reap from liberalizing their markets would be far from worthwhile, not least because their own infant industries could not compete with those of Britain, which had far more established businesses that had the muscle to blow those of the continent out of the water. Bitter about the lessons that had been learnt at the hands of the British, nationalist economists, while seeing the benefits of free trade, came to point out that liberals â€Å"did not adequately address the problems of how economically and politically weak countries might ensure their national security in a world where free trade did not exist† (Harlen, 1999, 739). Such a dilemma was not only shared by European countries but also by the United States whose economic power was no match to Britain’s at this time. If the United States were to compete on Britain’ terms, economist Alexander Hamilton noted, â€Å"the want of reciprocity would render them [United States] the victim of a system which should induce them to confine their views of Agriculture, and refrain from Manufactures† (Hamilton, 1964, 138). Such a view implied that open competition would only result in the stronger country dictating terms and keeping the weaker one in almost perpetual underdevelopment. Consequently, in order to compete, diversification of the country’s manufacturing base had to be effected, an objective that could only be realized if government helped out and, to cite Hamilton once more, â€Å"encouraged the introduction of foreign technology, capital, and skilled labor †¦ and adopt protectionist trade policies, including tariffs, quotas and bounties, to bolster its fledgling industries†. Similar conclusions were reached by the German political economist Friedrich List, who laid down in his National System of Political Economy the need to dispense with the ideology of free trade in the short term in favour of empowering the state to protect and boost its infant industries and build up a skilled workforce. Only when this was done, List also argued, could countries move towards a policy of liberalization. 2.2. Theories of development Following the end of the Second World War, which signalled the end of colonialism, a similar yet different schools of thought emerged, which centred on the issue of how newly-independent former colonies could ‘catch up’ and attain economic prosperity. Such thinking took shape during the Cold War so that development theory, as it was called, took influences from both the right and the left – from capitalism to Marxism – to produce the following ways of thinking about development: modernization, structuralism, dependency theory and neo-liberalism. Typically, modernists believe development have to be achieved through linear progression, from a ‘traditional’ to a ‘modern’ society’ (Rostow, 1968). During the ‘traditional’ stage the country would be limited by weak government, poor technology and communications and overreliance on subsistence agriculture. Eventually however these societies would accumulate ‘preconditions of take-off’ in which foundations are laid, such as the creation of private business, banks, schools and hospitals; but such a society still lacks the productivity necessary to make the big jump. To achieve ‘take-off’ the economy would need to show signs of rising investment and savings as well as the rapid expansion of industry and agriculture. Even though the economy would have to experience some turbulence along the way towards maturity, it would do so by stripping itself of the very industries that had helped in the take-off. Finally, countries would, under this theory, enter the age of mass consumption when an affluent society would be born. Most importantly, in order to achieve the various stages of development and pass through them, the state had to be interventionist. Even though these thinkers insisted on the virtues of private enterprise, they also insisted that the Third World needed a plan or blueprint which governments could follow. A different take on modernization, which rejected the linear path of development, was Latin American structuralism. Ultimately, it sought the reason for underdevelopment in the unbalance of trade between raw commodity producers and manufacturers. More capital and technology would, it was argued, lead to a turnaround in fortunes. Crucially, developing countries had been apportioned the almost exclusive role of primary product producers within the international division of labour. As Raul Prebisch, a prominent proponent of this analysis, saw it, there were two problems associated with being predominately a primary goods exporter. First, he saw that technological advancement in the industrial core would lead to the creation of synthetics for natural products. Such a shift away from a dependence on raw materials, such as rubber, would have a detrimental impact on the economies of those who sought to profit. Second, he discerned the tendency that as per capita incomes increase, demand for primary products, such as food, would remain stable, while by contrast demand for manufactured goods would rise (Prebisch, 1964, 7). All of this meant that, without the prospect of the developed world consuming more primary products, developing countries had to face the prospect of â€Å"price volatility in the short term and declining terms of trade over the long run†. Such defects in the international system would be overturned through industrialization, which would decrease dependence on primary products and increase ability to export processed products. Importantly, however, structuralism shared with modernization theory the need for government to play a major role in supporting and protecting infant industries through tariffs and non-tariff barriers. Only by doing so, it insisted, could developing counties compete at all. Such was part of the reason why the policy of import-substitution industrialization (ISI) was created and propounded in the hope that an emphasis on industrialization would promote growth. Yet the problem with structuralism was that it took as a given the outer context of the capitalist international economy. Accept this, dependency theorists countered, then there was only the prospect for further dilemmas for developing countries. As a chief proponent of this idea, Andre Gunder Frank showed, in his book Capitalism and Underdevelopment in Latin America: Historical Studies of Chile and Brazil, that underdevelopment was caused by the very nature of global capitalism. Two divisional structures had emerged in which one camp would function as the metropolis centre and the other would serve as the peripheral and perennial satellites. Such a structure was largely exploitative in that â€Å"the metropolis expropriates economic surplus from its satellites and appropriates it for its own economic development. The satellites remain underdeveloped for lack of access to their own surplus and as a consequence of the sae polarization and exploitative contradictions which the metropolis introduces and maintains in the satellite’s domestic economic structure†. So he concludes pessimistically that â€Å"economic development and underdevelopment are opposite faces of the same coin† (Frank, 1969, 8). Such thinking formed the basis for the rejection of schemes such as ISI, since they only helped entrench even further a form of â€Å"dependent development† in which developing countries would become wholly reliant on the developed world for capital and investment. As long as this state of affairs continued, dependency theorists warned, developing nations could not share in the wealth of a capitalist world economy. Rather, it was argued, nations should move towards a socialist path of development, with the Soviet Union as a model of a country that had managed to industrialize without recourse to capitalism. Such an interpretation of development, it hardly needs to be mentioned, left room for any viability in the policies of ISI that had emerged under the structuralist banner. As it turned out, ISI failed to deliver on its promises of creating industrial competitiveness. In fact greater inequalities arose due to the way in which certain industries were protected so that they ended up with excess capacity, inefficiency and low quality. More worryingly, the fact that the state controlled licensing and foreign exchange meant that it encouraged â€Å"rent-seeking, corruption, smuggling, and black market as well as inefficiency in the allocation of resources† (Cohn, 2005, 378). Problems identified by dependency theorists proved to be prophetic. 2.3 The return of liberalism Even so, the inadequacies of ISI did not prevent the liberals, emerging out of the shadow of criticisms, from drawing different conclusions. For they sought the root cause of developing countries’ inability to move away from their state not in the unfair international system, which was inherently set up to keep them underdeveloped, but in incompetent government. What needed to be done, in other words, was to keep out the hand of government and allow market forces to operate. Evidence that the neoliberals were correct was provided by the promising growth of East Asian countries which based their economic development on exports. Examples such as Taiwan and Korea, which both witnessed strong rates of growth, conferred confidence on neoliberal analysts who sought the success of these countries to an â€Å"evolutionary process of industrially induced modernization and structural transformation †¦ locating an appropriate development niche within the global economy which may be exploited by implementing sound development policies based on conventional neoclassical economic principles† (Bruton, 1998, 107). From all these examples neoliberals re-built the edifice to their economic thinking. Clear guidelines this time were issued governments to, for example, â€Å"eliminate exchange–rate controls, restrictions on international trade, deregulation of the financial sector, privatization of state enterprises, creation of an unregulated labor market, specialization according to ‘comparative advantage’ and market driven resource allocations, and generally defining a ‘minimalist’ role for the state in development† (Brohman, 1996, 108). Most developed countries, responding to the debt crisis of the 1980s, gradually appropriated these new policies. Within the developing world, however, the legacy of ISI left a chronic balance of payment problem so that many countries had substantial debts they owed to international financial institutions. Responding to the crisis, in which many developing countries were expressing inability to return the debts, the IMF and World Bank issued guidelines in which it was spelt out that these nations should adhere to structural (or neoliberal) reforms so as to achieve growth and stability. There was, in fact, little choice. As Walden Bello and Shea Cunningham have acutely noted, â€Å"Faced with the threat of a cut-off of external funds needed to service the mounting debts they had incurred from the western private banks that had gone on a lending binge in the 1970s, these countries had no choice but to implement the painful measures demanded by the Bank and Fund† (Bello and Cunnigham, 1994). Such a move proved to be a watershed: it marked a shift away from an era of protection to a time of the free market, and it is within this climate that developing countries presently operate. In what follows one will review how these shifts and turns in economic developmental thinking impacted one particular country, Ghana. 3.0. Politics, ideology and economic policy Ever since her independence in 1957, Ghana has chopped and changed economic policy to the extent that she has tried pretty much all the development theories on which policy was forged. During the colonial period, she had been subjected to mercantile policies, which rendered Ghana an exporter of raw materials and an importer of finished consumer products. Tragically, this meant that wider socio-economic developments failed to take place, so that a diversification of her economic and industrial base away from the almost total reliance on a few basic resources could not be effected before British rule ended. 3.1. Nkruman and structural economics When Nkrumah assumed the mantle of power, he intended to push Ghana out of the underdeveloped into the developed world. Conceiving a Ten Year Development Programme, he established an Industrial Development Board (IDB), which was handed the task to develop the country’s manufacturing capabilities with the intent to pass them on to private enterprises when sufficiently grown (Dzorgbo, 2001, 148). But more substantive initiatives were carried out following the visit of Professor Arthur Lewis, a development economist, who argued strongly against any shock industrialization strategy in a country whose domestic market was limited; pursuit of large-scale industrialization would counterproductively remove resources away from the rural areas to the modern sector; and where shortage of labour would be aggravated by demand from industry. Far from adopting ambitious schemes, he put forward a series of modest proposals that were designed to prop up basic infrastructures so that a basis could be laid â€Å"for private foreign investment without the government having to bother offering special investment favours† (Dzorgbo, 2001, 149). Such a policy of â€Å"industrialization-by-invitation†, which was based on modernization theory, took a dim view of the ability of the government to access funds and take industries under its wing in a way Nkumah had initially intended. Even so, many of these recommendations were both enthusiastically and modestly accepted. Between 1950 and 1962, the Ten Year Plan adjusted to sing the tunes of a need above all for strong infrastructure. More specifically, it successfully constructed roadways and bridges to connect the various parts of the country, while it built the hydroelectric Akosombo Dam to secure the energy base needed for industrialization. Efforts were also invested in the setting up of transportation systems, while in the realm of social development, the government increased access its population had to water and education. Free primary education became available for all by 1960 and secondary education was expanded rapidly too. Enrolment in schools almost doubled across the board in the 1960s, with some 36,414 students registering in secondary schools, technical colleges, polytechnics and pre-university schools (Dzorgbo, 2001, 153). Such impressive improvements were capped off by improvements in health care services which saw new hospitals and clinics open. Despite the fact that Nkrumah government had followed and even bettered the recommendations of Lewis to improve the socio-economic infrastructure of the country, it grew impatient of the gradualist approach to economic development. More specifically, it became disillusioned by the â€Å"industrialization-by-invitation† policy because it had not led to the diversification of the economic base necessary for stability in the long run. Even though substantial amounts of FDI had been expected, following adoption of Lewis’ ideas, little of it had materialised. Those which had were taking the country for a ride. For example, during the construction of the Akosombo Dam, Nkrumah sought financial assistance from the United States. Eventually the firm Kaiser Aluminium Company came forward to underwrite some of the costs of the project. But conditions were attached that it as well as it