The best presents are those that cost the least Essay

The best presents are those that cost the least - Essay Example On the other hand, it has now become a social practice to give presents on birthdays, anniversaries, etc that is the reason that every other retail business is now putting efforts to showcase and sell a huge range of gifts. Such range of presents varies from baby toys to diamond necklaces, or in other words, shops offer gifts from a dollar to thousands of dollars. In such significance of presents, and especially in this era, people believe that expensive items can be the best presents to give to someone, or to acquire someone’s love and affection. Although gold and diamond have always remained a weakness of women, however, few people believe that sometimes, even a small greeting card can be the best present for someone rather than even a diamond ring. From a different perspective, people criticize that money cannot buy everything, especially love, and thus, feelings and emotions are the major factors that count more as compared with physical presents. Even from personal experiences, it is observation that sometimes a 1000-dollar present only brought temporary smiles, whereas, a handmade photo frame costing less than ten dollars made the whole day, and continued to bring smiles for rest of the life. In this regard, I believe that money does not matter when it comes to presents, but the feelings do. In other words, humans are emotional machines, and although these machines run after the notion of money and expensive things, however, during most times, emotional aspect of humans dominate the materialistic side that inclines individuals towards sentiments and feelings rather than cost of the present. Lastly, it will not be wrong to state that although expensive gifts can be attractive, exotic, and striking, but they usually result in temporary smiles and few moments of fun. On the other hand, real and best present can be something

Tobacco Smoking and Its Effect on Periodontal Disease Essay Example for Free

Tobacco Smoking and Its Effect on Periodontal Disease Essay The purpose of oral health research is to find out more information on areas which can be improved to benefit not only the public’s oral health knowledge and status but to improve oral health professional methods of practice as well (Petersen, 2003). The research’s main objective is to inspect tobacco smoking and its effect on periodontitis on the New Zealand adult population. Principal methods to be used include collecting data from participants that would be randomly selected from a sample which could represent the New Zealand adult population and interviewed from a telephone using a survey. The participants would categorize themselves as either as a non-smoker, former smoker or current smoker. The participants would then have their probing pocket depth and gingival recession clinical measured at three different tooth sites with 2.5-3.5mm, 3.5-5mm and over 5mm range recorded. The research hopes to impact the fact that smoking is a risk factor to periodontitis and that smoking should be prevented. Summary of PROPOSED Research Background: Periodontal disease arises from inflammation of the gingivae that is untreated commonly known as gingivitis. The inflammation and infection moves from the gingivae to the bone and supporting ligaments of the teeth. This loss of bone and support will cause the tooth to become mobile and this may lead to it eventually falling out. Being susceptible to periodontal disease is different according to a person as bacterial flora and local and systemic factors (Thomson et al, 2007). It is an important area to research for the New Zealand adult population as tobacco Smoking is known to effect periodontal disease this is done through affecting the level of bone attachment and the soft tissues around the gingivae (Obeid Bercy, 2000). The appearances clinically of gingivae for a smoker is different as it is fibrotic with rolled margins that are thick, pocketing depth which is larger consistently in maxillary lingual sites, the gingivae being less inflamed compared to the disease level seen and a person having a deeper probing depth, attachment loss and tooth loss than a person at the same age who never has smoked. Smokers have also been known to have impaired healing of gingivae due to blood flow and poorer clinically results to both surgical and non-surgical treatment (Obeid Bercy, 2000). It is necessary to research this area to find out if the amount of cigarettes smoked has more of an effect on the stage of periodontitis. When researching this topic the necessary confounding factors such as age, sex and socio economic status has to be considered (Bergstrom et al, 2000). Aim: The research’s main objective is to inspect tobacco smoking and its effect on periodontitis on the New Zealand adult population. Description of Study and Design: A descriptive cross sectional study will be researched to try and find out if tobacco smoking is a casual risk factor for periodontal disease. Principal methods to be used include collecting data from participants 18 and over that would be randomly selected from a community sample which could represent the New Zealand adult population and interviewed from a telephone using a survey. The participants would categorize themselves as either as a non-smoker, former smoker or current smoker. The current smokers would then have their smoking listed as heavy, moderate or light depending on the amount of cigarettes smoked daily. The participants would then have their probing pocket depth and gingival recession clinical measured at three different tooth sites with 2.5-3.5mm, 3.5-5mm and over 5mm range recorded by a Dentist and Dental Hygienist. The periodontitis will be recorded as no, moderate and severe depending on the bone attachment loss. Age and sex would be used as main confounders. The study will have to be ethically approved by the Otago University Human Ethics Committee. The adults income will be a confounder factor also as it effects their ability to have dental care. The data will be statistically analysed and the results published. Participants: The research study requires randomly selected participants male and female over eighteen which will give a sample of adults which could represent the New Zealand adult population. The recruitment process will be through telephone numbers provided from a district health board such as Public health south. The inclusion criteria would be adults over the age of 18 that do not wear full dentures, have enough dentition to be examined at three different random tooth sites and also do not have a medical condition which prevents them from partaking in the clinical examination. Main Outcome Measures: The research’s main goal is to prove through a descriptive cross sectional study that tobacco smoking is a casual risk factor on periodontitis regarding the New Zealand adult population. Another goal is to measure the severity of periodontitis regarding the amount of cigarettes the person smokes weather the risk is increased with more cigarettes smoked or not. References: Bergstrà ¶m, J., Eliasson, S., Dock, J. (2000). A 10-year prospective study of tobacco smoking and periodontal health. Journal of periodontology, 71(8), 1338-1347. Obeid, P. (2000). Effects of smoking on periodontal health: a review. Advances in Therapy, 17(5), 230-237. Petersen, P. E. (2003). Tobacco and oral health-the role of the World Health Organization. Oral Health and Preventive Dentistry, 1(4), 309-316. Thomson, W. M., Broadbent, J. M., Welch, D., Beck, J. D., Poulton, R. (2007). Cigarette smoking and periodontal disease among 32†year†olds: a prospective study of a representative birth cohort. Journal of clinical periodontology, 34(10), 828-834.

Reptiles :: essays research papers

Reptiles are vertebrate, or backboned animals constituting the class Reptilia and are characterized by a combination of features, none of which alone could separate all reptiles from all other animals.The characteristics of reptiles are numerous, therefore can not be explained in great detail in this report. In no special order, the characteristics of reptiles are: cold-bloodedness; the presence of lungs; direct development, without larval forms as in amphibians; a dry skin with scales but not feathers or hair; an amniote egg; internal fertilization; a three or four-chambered heart; two aortic arches (blood vessels) carrying blood from the heart to the body, unlike mammals and birds that only have one; a metanephric kidney; twelve pairs of cranial nerves; and skeletal features such as limbs with usually five clawed fingers or toes, at least two spinal bones associated with the pelvis, a single ball-and-socket connection at the head-neck joint instead of two, as in advanced amphibian s and mammals, and an incomplete or complete partition along the roof of the mouth, separating the food and air passageways so that breathing can continue while food is being chewed. These and other traditional defining characteristics of reptiles have been subjected to considerable modification in recent times. The extinct flying reptiles, called pterosaurs or pterodactyls, are now thought to have been warm-blooded and covered with hair. Also, the dinosaurs are also now considered by many authorities to have been warm-blooded. The earliest known bird, archaeopteryx, is now regarded by many to have been a small dinosaur, despite its covering of feathers The extinct ancestors of the mammals, the therapsids, or mammallike reptiles, are also believed to have been warm-blooded and haired. Proposals have been made to reclassify the pterosaurs, dinosaurs, and certain other groups out of the class Reptilia into one or more classes of their own. The class Reptilia is divided into 6 to 12 subclasses by different authorities. This includes living and extinct species. In addition, a number of these subclasses are completely extinct. The subclasses contain about 24 orders, but only 4 of these are still represented by living animals.Of the living orders of reptiles, two arose earlier than the age of reptiles, when dinosaurs were dominant. Tuataras, of the order Rhynchocephalia, are found only on New Zealand islands, whereas the equally ancient turtles, order Chelonia, occur nearly worldwide. The order Crocodilia emerged along with the dinosaurs. Snakes and lizards, order Squamata, are today the most numerous reptile species.

Effects of Globalization on the Society Essay

Globalization is one of the contemporary policies implemented in attempt to resolve the economic dilemma of various countries and to encourage free flowing economic transactions among nations. And as such, globalization has become an influential phenomenon reaching various global scopes. It is an international process by which nations are being pushed to form a single and unified global society. The different societies within a globalized community undergo various transformation and developments which are comprised of common practices and beliefs known as the cultural universals. The cultural universals are adaptations in meeting the needs of the members of the society in terms of food, clothing and shelter. Developments are achieved through innovations. Innovation is the process of injecting new ideas or objects within a culture. And with these changes and innovations, this process also renders social consequences. There are two types of innovations: discovery and invention. The Chapter 3 of the book â€Å"Sociology a Brief Introduction† explained how development in culture occurs in the global setting. This chapter expounded the various concepts pertaining to the development of cultures such as globalization, diffusion and technology (Schaefer 58-60). The current globalization policy renders effects on the various aspects of the society. Globalization is a broad term. It encompasses the various aspects of the nation including politics, society and economy. More often than not, globalization is associated to the economic activities of the nation but it also affects the various aspects of society. Globalization Globalization is the integration of the economies and societies worldwide. Globalization is considered as one of the most hotly-debated topics in the field of international economics over the past few years (â€Å"Globalization†). It is the process of making the local or regional phenomenon into a global one. The nations are unified into a single society which carry out the function together. It is like integrating the economic, technological, sociocultural and political aspects of the nation (Croucher 10). Whenever globalization is mentioned, it is often associated with economic concepts and activities. Globalization is viewed as an economic process that integrates national economies into one international economy benefiting the activities of the inherent economy (Bhagwati 3). The term has been frequently defined by different economists, and as the such, the concept of globalization has developed so many definitions in accordance to the society’s point of view where the term is being utilized. The term â€Å"globalization† has been around for quite a long time. The concept has not been popular until the late 1980s and 1990s when its theoretical concepts became more well known. But the activities of globalization has already been put to practice even during the early times when the European countries colonized other parts of the world (Yergin). The first wave of globalization occurred during the 19th century which resulted to an incredible increase and growth in the international trade and economic interaction with the European countries dominating the world’s economic activities (Yergin). But the concept of globalization became more pronounced and used after the Second World War. The emergence of this concept came from the idea of the reconstruction of societies after the destructions caused by the war. The establishment of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank became two of the most influential international organizations that pioneered the reconstruction of war-devastated countries and became relevant agents in restoring economic progress and stability in these nations. Effects of Globalization Globalization is a strategic economic process which aims to provide prosperity and growth to the world’s economy. However, globalization has advantages and disadvantages. Although in the economic point of view, globalization is a positive and beneficial process. But its contribution to the overall increase in the global prosperity is still unparalleled. Globalization creates a process of disseminating modern methods and equipments needed in the contemporary enterprise management, economic growth and global financing. This way, globalization also increases labor productivity and efficiency of the factors of production (Bozyk 3). Moreover, globalization hastens the movement of the essential factors of production, especially the capital and technology. The other factors increasing the production is swiftly moving such as new and innovative ideas, modern technologies and production methods. Consumers, on the other hand, also benefit from the process by purchasing high-quality products due to the increase efficiency in production. In this process, globalization influences the consumption and quality of the products (Bozyk 4). The communication and information industries are also greatly influenced by globalization process. Information disseminated under the tenets of free trade and in the advent of advanced technology tools and gadgets rendered the information industry free movement and easy access to the people. The emergence of internet accessibility and telephone services brought information closer to the people. On the other hand, globalization also renders disadvantages that are inappropriate to some countries engaging in the contemporary economic trend. Some of these disadvantages include the reality that globalization only brings profit to the wealthy and well-developed countries and amplifies the marginal difference of the well-developed and developing countries. The international economic policy is leaning towards the wealthy and powerful countries and is unsuitable to the developing countries (Gavrilenkov et. al 233). Moreover, some countries are utilizing globalization to establish world domination, authority and power which will enable stronger countries to manipulate the relationships of different countries within the international order. Nowadays, the United States is enjoying the status of being one of the strongest nations or probably the sole world superpower. However, the current status of China, its economic stability, and the rate at which the Chinese economy progresses will soon rival United States in terms of industry, wealth and technological improvements (Hurst 91). Works Cited Bhagwati, Jagdish. In Defense of Globalization. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Bozyk, Pawel. Globalization and the Transformation of Foreign Economic Policy. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2006. Croucher, Shiela L. Globalization and Belonging: The Politics of Identity a Changing World. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. Gavrilenkov, Evgeny, Paul J. J. Welfens and Ralf Wiegert. Economic Opening Up and Growth in Russia. New York: Springer Verlag Berlin Heidlberg, 2004. â€Å"Globalization†. 2001. The World Bank Group. 10 October 2008 . Hurst, Charles E. Social Inequality: Forms, Causes and Consequences. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2006. Schaefer, Richard T. Sociology:A Brief Introduction. United Kingdom: Academic Internet Publishers Incorporated, 2006. Yergin, David. â€Å"Commanding Heights†. n. d. 10 October 2008 .

Professionalism in Sports

PROFESSIONALISM IN SPORTS August 1890 – The North American Review It is hardly necessary at the present day to enter a plea for athletic exercise and manly outdoor sports. During the last twenty-five years there has been a wonderful growth of interest in and appreciation of healthy muscular amusements; and this growth can best be promoted by stimulating, within proper bounds, the spirit of rivalry on which all our games are based. The effect upon the physique of the sedentary classes, especially in the towns and cities, has already been very marked.We are much less liable than we were to reproaches on the score of our national ill health, of the bad constitutions of our men, and of the fragility and early decay of our women. There are still plenty of people who look down on, as of little moment, the proper development of the body; but the men of good sense sympathize as little with these as they do with the even more noxious extremists who regard physical development as an end instead of a means.As a nation we have many tremendous problems to work out, and we need to bring every ounce of vital power possible to their solution. No people has ever yet done great and lasting work if its physical type was infirm and weak. Goodness and strength must go hand in hand if the Republic is to be preserved. The good man who is ready and able to strike a blow for the right, and to put down evil with the strong arm, is the citizen who deserves our most hearty respect.There is a certain tendency in the civilization of our time to underestimate or overlook the need of the virile, masterful qualities of the heart and mind which have built up and alone can maintain and defend this very civilization, and which generally go hand in hand with good health and the capacity to get the utmost possible use out of the body. There is no better way of counteracting this tendency than by encouraging bodily exercise, and especially the sports which develop such qualities as courage, r esolution, and endurance.The best of all sports for this purpose are those which follow the Macedonian rather than the Greek model: big-game hunting, mountaineering, the chase with horse and hound, all wilderness life with all its keen, hardy pleasures. The hunter and mountaineer lead healthier lives in time of need they would make better soldiers than the trained athlete. Nor need these pleasures be confined to the rich. The trouble with our men of small means is quite as often that they do not know how to enjoy pleasures lying at their doors as that they cannot afford them.From New York to Minneapolis, from Boston to San Francisco, there is no large city from which it is impossible to reach a tract of perfectly wild, wooded or mountainous land within forty-eight hours; and any two young men who can get a months holiday in August or September cannot use it to better advantage than by tramping on foot, pack on back, over such a tract. Let them go alone; a season or two will teach th em much woodcraft, and will enormously increase their stock of health, hardihood, and self-reliance.If one carries a light rifle or fowling-piece, and the other a fishing rod, they will soon learn to help fill out their own bill of fare. Of course they must expect to find the life pretty hard, and filled with disappointments at first; but the cost will be very trifling, and if they have courage, their reward is sure to come. However, most of our people, whether from lack of means, time, or inclination, do not take to feats of this kind, and must get their fun and exercise in athletics proper.The years of late boyhood and early manhood say from twelve or fourteen to twenty-eight or thirty, and often until much later are those in which athletic sports prove not only most attractive, but also most beneficial to the individual and the race. In college and in most of the schools which are preparatory for college rowing, foot-ball, base-ball, running, jumping, sparring, and the like have assumed a constantly increasing prominence. Nor is this in any way a matter for regret.Of course any good is accompanied by some evil; and a small number of college boys, who would probably turn out badly anyhow, neglect everything for their sports, and so become of little use to themselves or any one else. But as a whole college life has been greatly the gainer by the change. Only a small proportion of college boys are going to become real students and do original work in literature, science, or art; and these are certain to study their best in any event.The others are going into business or law or some kindred occupation; and these, of course, can study but little that will be directly of use to them in after-life. The college education of such men should be largely devoted to making them good citizens, and able to hold their own in the world; and character is far more important than intellect in making a man a good citizen or successful in his calling meaning by character not onl y such qualities as honesty and truthfulness, but courage, perseverance, and self-reliance.Now, athletic sports, if followed properly, and not elevated into a fetish, are admirable for developing character, besides bestowing on the participants an invaluable fund of health and strength. In each of the larger colleges there are from fifty to a hundred men who, on the various class and college crews and ball teams, or in the track and gymnasium games, compete for the different championships; and for every one such man who actually competes there are five or ten who take part in the practice games, train more or less, and get a great deal of benefit from the work.The careful system of measurements which have been taken at Harvard shows a marked improvement in the physique of the men even during the last ten years; and what is more important this shows that this improvement is, if anything, more marked in the case of the average man than in that of the picked champions. The colleges con tain but a small proportion of the men interested in amateur athletics, as can be seen by the immense number of ball clubs, rowing clubs, polo clubs, hunt clubs, bicycle clubs, snow-shoe clubs, lacrosse clubs, and athletic clubs proper which are to be found scattered among our cities and towns.Almost any man of sedentary life who wishes to get exercise enough to keep him in vigorous health can readily do so at one of these clubs; and an increasing proportion of our young men are finding this out and acting accordingly. More than one of our most famous athletes originally took to athletics for his health; and, on the other hand, be it remembered always that the sports which prove most bene- ficial bodily to a man are those which interest and amuse him.If he belongs to a rowing club or baseball nine, the eagerness and excitement of a contest with a rival association spur him on to keep his body in good condition; and, as with the college athletes, there are scores of outsiders, whom t hese championship contests attract, and whose love for athletics is increased thereby, for every individual contestant who directly participates in them. It is needless to say that under the head of manly sports I do not in elude pigeon-shooting; and still less rabbit-coursing, or any other game where the man does nothing but look on.Already this awakening of interest in manly sports, this proper care of the body, have had a good effect upon our young men; but there are, of course, accompanying dangers in any such movement. With very few exceptions the man who makes some athletic pursuit his main business, instead of turning to it as a health-giving pastime, ceases to be a particularly useful citizen. Of course I do not refer to the men who act as trainers and instructors at the different colleges and clubs ; these perform a most useful and honorable function, and among them several could be named who have rendered as high service as any men in the community.But the amateur athlete who thinks of nothing but athletics, and makes it the serious business of his life, becomes a bore, if nothing worse. A young man who has broken a running or jumping record, who has stroked a winning club crew, or played on his college nine or eleven, has a distinct claim to our respect; but if, when middle-aged, he has still done nothing more in the world, he forfeits even this claim which he originally had. It is so in an even more marked degree with the professional athlete.In America the difference between amateurs and professionals is in one way almost the reverse of what it is in England, and accords better with the ways of life of our democratic community. In England the average professional is a man who works for his living, and the average amateur is one who does not; whereas with us the amateur usually is, and always ought to be, a man who, like other American citizens, works hard at some regular calling, it matters not what, so long as it is respectable, while the profess ional is very apt to be a gentleman of more or less elegant leisure, aside from his special pursuit.The mere statement of the difference is enough to show that the amateur, and not the professional, is the desirable citizen, the man who should be encouraged. Our object is to get as many of our people as possible to take part in manly, healthy, vigorous pastimes, which will benefit the whole nation; it is not to produce a limited class of athletes who shall make it the business of their lives to do battle with one another for the popular amusement. Most masterful nations have shown a strong taste for manly sports. In the old days, when we ourselves were still a people of backwoodsmen, at every merrymaking there were sure to be trials f skill and strength, at running, wrestling, and rifleshooting, among the young men. We should encourage by every method the spirit which makes such trials popular; it is a very excellent revival of old-time American ways. But the existence of a caste of gladiators in the midst of a population which does not itself participate in any manly sports is usually, as it was at Rome, a symptom of national decadence. The Romans who, when the stern and simple strength of Rome was departing, flocked to the gladiatorial shows, were influenced only by a ferocious craving for bloody excitement; not by any sympathy with men of stout heart and tough sinew.So it is, to a lesser extent, today. In baseball alone, the professional teams, from a number of causes, have preserved a fairly close connection with non-professional players, and have done good work in popu- larizing a most admirable and characteristic American game ; but even here the outlook is now less favorable, and, aside from this one pastime, professionalism is the curse of many an athletic sport, and the chief obstacle to its healthy development. Professional rowing is under a dark cloud of suspicion because of the crooked practices which have disgraced it. Horse-racing is certainly no t in an ideal condition.A prize-fight is simply brutal and degrading. The people who attend it, and make a hero of the prizefighter, are, excepting boys who go for fun and dont know any better,to a very great extent, men who hover on the border-line of criminality; and those who are not are speedily brutalized, and are never rendered more manly. They form as ignoble a body as do the kindred frequenters of rat-pit and cock-pit. The prizefighter and his fellow professional athletes of the same ilk are, together with their patrons in every rank of life, the very worst foes with whom the cause of general athletic development has to contend – THEODORE ROOSEVELT.