Defining a Drug Cartel and Organized Crime
There is no widely accepted definition of what a drug cartel is or the characteristics that define a drug cartel. To further complicate matters, there is no widely accepted definition of what characteristics define an organized crime group.  Law enforcement agencies and academics all utilize their own definitions.  To simplify matters, definitions of organized crime were chosen for comparison and defining purposes.  Specifically, the definitions I am referring to are those offered by Carter (1994) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1994).

In order to define a drug cartel, I have formed a definition of a drug cartel from pieces of other definitions.  These definitions are from the United Kingdom’s Office of Fair Trading (2006), Joseph Finckenauer (2005), and David Carter (1994).  The definition used for a cartel is from the United Kingdom’s Office of Fair Trading, which defines a cartel as “an agreement between businesses not to compete with each other” (2006). Continue Reading »

Empathy is generally defined as the identification with, and understanding of another person’s situation, feelings and motives. While empathy and sympathy are two closely related notions, I believe that the subtle difference between them can be found in the idea of “identification”. For, while sympathy says “I understand how you feel and commiserate with you,” empathy goes a step further and says “I feel what you feel”. Such an ability to project oneself into another’s experience can only be rooted in a love for humanity. Continue Reading »

The most profitable pharmaceutical production technologies lie locked up inside the biggest pharmaceutical companies labs. Valuability of those procedures may be understandable the best during outbreaks of viral diseases.

Discovery of antiviral drugs was the biggest health treatment breakthrough (3). However, those drugs production needs investing great amount of money as to allow use of combinational chemistry aided with computer designs, molecular biology (3) and other high specific technologies. But thanks to them we can receive drugs saving our lives. Infectious diseases caused by bacteria, fungi are very well treatable those days. The ones caused by viruses are only under development. Continue Reading »

Fast Foods: Are They Safe and Nutritious?

They are mushrooming everywhere: in the makeshift trolleys outside the high rise buildings at Nariman Point in Mumbai, at the concentric circles that is Connaught Place in Delhi, or even at the stalls coupling the schools and colleges, the supermarkets and cinema houses in Chennai; these fast food joints to have come to rule as our favourite places to eat.

When everything moves at a brisk pace, when men, women and even children are always running short of time, this situation is quite understandable. A plate of steaming hot ‘pav-bhaji’ or a samosa during lunch hour is ofcourse delicious and convenient. But then, are we aware that there is a price to be paid for today’s rapid life eating? Continue Reading »

No one would argue that health is a key component of happiness, which has great impact on all other spheres of life. Taking into account that a right diet is an important factor that influences health, it is obvious that a lot of people seek ways to improve it. As a result, a large amount of products is proposed and it is essential to be well informed about products’ properties and possible impact on organism to make a right decision. The question is how to find information one can rely on?

Obviously, one can find nutritional information in various sources, such as: books, articles, Web sites. But it is important that you find objective, reliable and up-to-date information. Therefore, when you read a book or an article, take time to look up author’s biography, name of the publishing house or magazine, references to other works. Evidently, well-known magazines are more likely to be trusted, but none-the-less it is essential that the author has a medical background and supports his/her thesis with facts and up-to-date researches. Continue Reading »

How Can Damage of the Brain in Each of the Following Structures Affect One’s Mental Processes and Behavior?

Research has demonstrated the importance of understanding brain disorders as it affects one’s mental processes and behavior. In particular, studies revealed that brain damage may occur due to a wide range of causes, including illnesses, head injuries, complex chemical imbalances, bacterial diseases, and changes associated with aging. These broad categories of influence can lead to very specific or very generalized affective disorders depending on the region damaged.

The medulla oblongata, usually just called the medulla, contains a number of vital centers for regulating heartbeat, breathing, and blood pressure. It also contains the reflex centers for vomiting, coughing, sneezing, hiccoughing, and swallowing (Mader 134). Destruction of the medulla causes instant death (Carlson 302).

The reticular formation receives sensory information by means of various pathways and projects axons to the cerebral cortex, thalamus, and spinal cord. It plays a role in sleep and arousal, attention, muscle tonus, movement, and various vital reflexes (Mader 137). Damage to reticular formation interferes with normal arousal and produces coma by interfering with this mechanism (Carlson 304). Continue Reading »

Osteoporosis was responsible for fractures in approximately 1.5 million Americans in 2004, and this number grows each year due to longer life spans and the aging of the Baby Boom generation. The costs for treating advanced osteoporosis are currently a staggering $18 billion every year, which breaks down to $38 million each day (Surgeon General, 2004). Osteoporosis, defined as “a skeletal disorder characterized by compromised bone strength predisposing a person to an increased risk of fracture” (Surgeon General, 2004), is also insidious in that most people do not know they have it until the disorder is advanced. For these reasons, both prevention and treatment of this disorder are becoming ever more critical.

Obviously, prevention is preferable. The good news is that prevention is possible through nutrition and exercise. The loss in bone density which characterizes osteoporosis is due to low calcium levels in the bone. Certainly, then, calcium supplements or increased calcium through foods do help in the prevention of osteoporosis, but calcium supplements alone are inadequate. Studies also show that magnesium plays an important role in the absorption of calcium into bones so that without adequate magnesium levels, increased calcium supplements will be ineffective (Abraham, 1991, 170). Without proper levels of magnesium, ingested calcium is likely to be deposited in arteries rather than bone (Abraham, 1991, 172). Continue Reading »