Feature extraction using crossing number (cn) and ridge tracking technique

Feature extraction using crossing number (cn) and ridge tracking technique PROPOSED ALGORITHM: FEATURE EXTRACTION USING CROSSING NUMBER (CN) AND RIDGE TRACKING TECHNIQUE The various steps involved in feature extraction are as given below: 3.2.1 ADAPTIVE BINARIZATION The enhanced greyscale image is converted to a binary image using adaptive binarization [1]. Global thresholding is not used for binarization because of possibilities of non-uniform illumination on the surface of scanner. Thus using adaptive binarization with a window size of 91 x 91 (This size was finalised after a number of trial and errors). The algorithm can be outlined as follows: Algorithm: Adaptive binarization Input: Enhanced greyscale image e(x,y). Output: Binarized image bin(x,y). For each pixel (i) of e(x,y) Compute local mean (ml) in the 91 x 91 neighborhood of the pixel. If ml > e(xi,yi) then, bin(xi,yi) = white. Else bin(xi,yi)= black. End For. - 3.2.2. THINNING The binarised image is skeletonised using medial axis transformation (MAT)[1] to obtain a single pixel thin ridge structure. The thinning algorithm can be outlined as follows: Assumptions: Region points are assumed to have value 1(white) and background points to have value 0(black). Notations: 1. The 8 neighbour notation of a centre pixel p1 is as shown. p9 p2 p3 p8 p1 p4 p7 p6 p5 2. n (p1) is the number of non zero neighbours of p1. I.e. n (p1) = p2 + p3 + †¦. + p9. 3. t (p1) is the number of 0-1 transitions in the ordered sequence p2, p3,†¦p9,p2. Algorithm : Thinning Input: Binarized image bin(x,y). Output: One pixel thinned image th(x,y). Steps: 1. W.r.t the neighborhood notation a pixel p1 in bin(x,y). is flagged for deletion if the following conditions are satisfied; 2 ≠¤ n(p1) ≠¤ 6 . t(p1)=1. p2 V p4 V p6 = 0 p4 V p6 V p8 = 0 2. Delete all the flagged pixels from bin(x,y). 3. W.r.t the neighborhood notation a pixel p1 in bin(x,y) is flagged for deletion if the following conditions are satisfied; 2 ≠¤ n(p1) ≠¤ 6 . t(p1)=1. p2 V p4 V p8 = 0 p2 V p6 V p8 = 0 4. Delete all the flagged pixel from bin(x,y). 5. Go to step 1 if bin(x, y) is not same as the previous bin(x, y) (indicating that single pixel thickness is yet not obtained) 6. Assign the image bin(x, y) obtained from step 4. to th(x, y). Thus one iteration of the thinning algorithm consists of applying step 1 to flag border points for deletion deleting the flagged points; applying step 3 to flag the remaining border points for deletion; and deleting the flagged points. The basic procedure is applied iteratively until no further points are deleted, at which time the algorithm terminates, yielding the skeleton of the region. 3.2.3 ESTIMATING SPATIAL CO-ORDINATES DIRECTION OF MINUTIAE POINTS. Minutiae representation is by far, the most widely used method of fingerprint representation. Minutia or small details mark the regions of local discontinuity within a fingerprint image. These are locations where the the ridge comes to an end(type: ridge ending) or branches into two (type: bifurcation). Other forms of the minutiae includes a very short ridge (type: ridge dot), or a closed loop (type: enclosure). The different types of minutiae are illustrated Figure 1. There are more than 18 different types of minutiae [2] among which ridge bifurcations and endings are the most widely used. Other minutiae type may simply be expressed as multiple ridge endings of bifurcations. For instance, a ridge dot may be represented by two opposing ridge endings placed at either extremities. Even this simplification is redundant since many matching algorithms do not even distinguish between ridge ending and bifurcations since their types can get flipped. The template simply consists of a list of minutiae location and their orientations. The feature extractor takes as input a gray scale image I(x,y) and produces a unordered set of tuples- M = {m1,m2,m3mN}. Each tuple mi corresponds to a single minutia and represents its properties. The properties extracted by most algorithms include its position and orientation. Thus, each tuple mi is usually represented as a triplet {xi, yi, ÃŽ ¸i}. The crossing number (CN) method is used to perform extraction of the spatial coordinates of the minutiae points. This method extracts the bifurcations from the skeleton image by examining the local neighborhood of each ridge pixel using a 33 window. The CN of a ridge pixel ‘p is given as follows CN=0.5 { i=18pi-pi+1 } p(9) =p(1) . For a pixel ‘p if CN= 3 it is a bifurcation point. For each extracted minutia along with its x and y coordinates the orientation of the associated ridge segment is also recorded. The minutia direction is found out using a ridge tracking technique. With reference to figure 3.3 once the x and y coordinates of the bifurcation point are known, we can track the three directions from that point. Each direction is tracked upto 10 pixel length. Once tracked we construct a triangle from these three points. The midpoint of the smallest side of the triangle is then connected to the bifurcation point and the angle of the resulting line segment is found which is the minutia direction. Assumptions: Ridges are assumed to have value 0 (black) and background points to have value 1(white). Notations: The 8 neighbor notation of a center pixel p1 is as previously shown. The algorithm for extracting the minutiae using the crossing number technique can be outlined as follows: Algorithm: Crossing number Input: Thinned image th(x,y). Output: Image with (x,y) coordinates and orientation thita of each minutia. Steps: 1. For every pixel p in th(x,y) compute the crossing number (CN) ; CN=0.5 { i=18pi-pi+1 } p(9) =p(1) . 2. If CN= 3, the pixel p is declared as a bifurcation point and its x and y coordinates, i.e. p.x and p.y are recorded. 3. The orientation at the bifurcation points p.ÃŽ ¸ is calculated using tracking algorithm. Fingerprint matching Process:- Each minutiae may be described by a number of attributes such as its position (x,y), its orientation ÃŽ ¸, its quality etc. However, most algorithms consider only its position and orientation information. Given a pair of fingerprints and their corresponding minutiae features to be matched, features may be represented as an unordered set given by I1 = {m1,m2.mM} where mi = (xi, yi, ÃŽ ¸i) I2 = {m1,m2.mN} where mi = (xi, yi , ÃŽ ¸i ) Here the objective is to find a point mj in I2 that exclusively corresponds to each point mi in I1. Usually points in I2 is related to points in I1 through a geometric transformation T( ). Therefore, the technique used by most minutiae matching algorithms is to recover the transformation function T( ) that maps the two point sets . The resulting point set I2 is given by: I2 = T(I1) = {m†1,m† 2,m† 3.m†M} m†1 = T(m1) m† N = T(mN) The minutiae pair mi and m†j are considered to be a match only if (xi-xj)2+(yi-yj)2≠¤r0 min( |ÃŽ ¸i − ÃŽ ¸Ã¢â‚¬  j | , 360 − |ÃŽ ¸i − ÃŽ ¸Ã¢â‚¬ j | ) Here r0 and ÃŽ ¸0 denote the tolerance window. The matcher can make on of the following assumptions on the nature of the transformation T Rigid Transformation: Here it is assumed that one point set is rotated and shifted version of the other. Affine Transformation: Affine transformations are generalization of Euclidean transform. Shape and angle are not preserved during transformation. Non-linear Transformation: Here the transformation may be due to any arbitrary and complex transformation function T(x,y). The problem of matching minutiae can be treated as an instance of generalized point pattern matching problem. In its most general form, point pattern matching consists of matching two unordered set of points of possibly different cardinalities and each point. It is assumed that the two pointsets are related by some geometrical relationship. In most situations, some of the point correspondences are already known (e.g. control points in an image registration problem [5,4,6,7])andthe problem reduces to finding the most optimal geometrical transformation that relates these two sets. However, in fingerprints, the point correspondences themselves are unknown and therefore the points have to be matched with no prior assumption making it a very challenging combinatorial problem. There have been several prior approaches where general point pattern techniques havebeen applied. Some of these have been discussed here. Ranade and Rosenfield [8] proposed an iterative approach for obtaining point correspondences. In this approach, for each point pair mi, mj they assign pij , the likelihood of the point correspondence and c(i, j, h, k), a cost function that captures the correspondence of other pairs(mh,m_k) as a result of matching mi with mj. In each iteration pij is incremented if it increases the compatibility of other points and is decremented if it does not. At the point of convergence, each point mi is assigned to the point argmaxk(pik). While this is a fairly accurate approach and is robust to non-linearities, the iterative nature of the algorithm makes it unsuitable for most applications. The hough transform [9] approach or the transformation clustering approach reduces the problemof point pattern matching to detecting the most probable transformation in a transformation search space. Ratha et al [10] proposed a fingerprint matching algorithm based on this approach. In this technique, the search space consists of all the possible parameter under the assumed distortionmodel. For instance, if we assume a rigid transformation, then the search space consists of all possible combinations of all translations (Δx,Δy) , scales s and rotations and ÃŽ ¸. However, to avoid computation complexity the search space is usually discretized into small cells. Therefore the possible transformations form a finite set with Δx ÃŽ µ {Δ1x,Δ2x . . .ΔIx} Δy ÃŽ µ {Δ1y,Δ2y . . .ΔJy} ÃŽ ¸ ÃŽ µ {ÃŽ ¸1, ÃŽ ¸2 . . . ÃŽ ¸K} s ÃŽ µ {s1, s2 . . . sL} A four dimensional accumulator of size (I Ãâ€"J Ãâ€"K Ãâ€"L) is maintained. Each cell A(i, j, k, l) indicatesthe likelihood of the transformation parameters (Δix,Δjy, ÃŽ ¸k, sl). To determine the optimal transformation, every possible transformation is tried on each pair of points. The algorithm used is summarized below for each point mi in fingerprint T . for each point m_j in fingerprint I for each ÃŽ ¸k ÃŽ µ {ÃŽ ¸1, ÃŽ ¸2 . . . ÃŽ ¸K} for each sl ÃŽ µ {s1, s2 . . . sL} compute the translations Δx,Δy Explicit alignment: An illustration of the relative alignment using ridges associated with minutiae mi and mj ∆x∆y=∆xi∆yi-s1cosÃŽ ¸k -sinÃŽ ¸ksinÃŽ ¸k cosÃŽ ¸kxjyj †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦(1) d Let (Δix,Δjy) be the quantized versions of (Δx,Δy) respectively. e If T{mi} matches with m_j increase the evidence for the cell A[Δix,Δjy, ÃŽ ¸k, sl] A[Δix,Δjy, ÃŽ ¸k, sl] = A[Δix,Δjy, ÃŽ ¸k, sl]+1 3.The optimal transformation parameters are obtained using (Δ*x,Δ*y, ÃŽ ¸*, s*) = argmax(i,j,k,l) A[Δix,Δjy, ÃŽ ¸k, sl] References: Gonzalez, Woods, and Eddins. Digital Image Processing using matlab. Prentice Hall, 2004. D. Maltoni, D. Maio, A.K. Jain, S. Prabhakar, Handbook of Fingerprint Recognition, Springer, 2003, ISBN 0-387-95431-7. R.Thai, Fingerprint image enhancement and feature extraction. Australia. Anil Jain, Salil Prabhakar, Lin Hong, and Sharath Pankanti. Filterbank-based fingerprint matching. In Transactions on Image Processing, volume 9, pages 846-859, May 2000. Anil Jain, Arun Ross, and Salil Prabhakar. Fingerprint matching using minutiae texture features.In International Conference on Image Processing, pages 282-285, october 2001. L. Hong, Y. Wang, and A. K. Jain. Fingerprint image enhancement: Algorithm and performanceevaluation. Transactions on PAMI, 21(4):777-789, August 1998. L. Brown. A survey of image registration techniques. ACM Computing Surveys, 1992. A. Ranade and A. Rosenfeld. Point pattern matching by relaxation. Pattern Recognition, 12(2):269-275, 1993. R. O. Duda and P. E. Hart. Use of the hough transformation to detect lines and curves in pictures. Communications of the ACM, 15(1), 1972. N. K. Ratha, K. Karu, S. Chen, and A. K. Jain. A real-time matching system for large fingerprint databases. Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 18(8):799-813, 1996.

The Infiltration of German Propaganda Into American Culture :: World War II WWII WW2

The Infiltration of German Propaganda Into American Culture "Propaganda, propaganda, propaganda. All that matters is propaganda." -- Adolf Hitler (Welch ,1) During World War II, propaganda saturated the eyes and ears of countless Germans. Films, such as Triumph of the Will declared the superiority of Hitler's ideas and hopes for the future, while posters increased the ever-rising nationalism of the public. Radio was a major part of everyday life and an inventive way to bring anti-Semitic discourse to the ordinary days of the people. Hitler knew how effective propaganda could be and conveyed that "propaganda for the masses had to be simple, it had to aim at the lowest level of intelligence, and it had to be reduced to easily learned slogans which then had to be repeated many times, concentrating on such emotional elements as love and hatred" (Welch, 3). In short, he had to circulate the kind of information that everyone would understand and remember. Today, people from the United States look at World War II with horror and disbelief, wondering just how could the Germans be so "brain washed" to agree that it was a good idea to kill off an entire culture? Many do not realize that Hitler's propaganda was so well thought out that his ideas had seeped into everything -- including American culture. Although, the United States fought against the Nazi ideals, there were subtle ways that German ideas affected American society. A prime example of Hitler's propaganda that leaked into American society is the sample of anti-Semitic verse, simply titled "To the Tune of the Marine Hymn." This passage was circulated widely between civilians and soldiers in the United States during World War II and is sung to the tune of the Marine Hymn. It brilliantly plays on the stereotypes of the Jewish culture that were accepted by many as a reality. By setting the passage to the tune of the Marine Hymn, this piece of propaganda gives American men a sense of nationalism, as well as a very familiar and catchy tune that will stay in their minds. The well-known melody helps to downplay the intolerance of Jews in the lyrics and it is easy for many people who are not paying attention to miss the stereotypes that are played out. Instead, there is almost a sense of comedy or a softening of the evil intentions of the appalling lyrics. The lyrics of the song are ideas that were commonplace to the American population during the time of World War II.

Is Religion Wrong? Essay -- essays research papers

Is Religion Wrong? Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx both seemed to believe that religion is a Drug. In which it helps people feel better about the unknown. Let’s face it humans’ fear the uncertain and we don’t like to be scared. So what does our human instinct do? â€Å"Know Everything†. But what happens when it is impossible to know the â€Å"ultimate concern†? I may seem atheist to you but I’m not I just don’t like to have my beliefs spoon fed to me. I like to challenge and question everything. I believe in general people will make up â€Å"bedtime† stories to help them and there kids to sleep better at night, and to explain the un-explainable. Some stories sound real convincing and they stick around and grow in to religions. People who have no explanation for natural forces believe that a higher po...

Higher Education or Higher Priced Education? Essay

The Marriam-Webster online dictionary defines higher education as â€Å"education beyond the secondary level; especially : education provided by a college or university. â€Å" It’s no secret to modern students that a higher education is necessary to advance in their professional life. There is always a cost to advancement and that cost can sometimes create a glass ceiling that is difficult for people in certain social strata to break through. The rising cost of higher education and its requirement for jobs creates a conflict for people in lower economic brackets. While the social value of higher education is difficult to argue against, the problems associated with affording higher education are very real social problems that must be considered. In Western society we have goals we are expected to achieve. At a very early age we begin preparing our children for school. There is no law demanding that children attend a specific school, nor that upon entering adult life they pursue higher education. Children can be home schooled or attend any school of their parents’ choosing. However, having a degree of some kind gives one many advantages in America. One who possesses a degree has a better chance of finding a successful money-making career. This, of course, is a crucial step to meeting society’s general standards, and living a life that resembles the ideal. The fact that extensive knowledge like that has become so highly respected reflects well on the values of our culture. Higher education has become the key to social and economic advancement. A well educated person can better process the information in front of them, and this is good for society in general. Those who possess higher-level educations are considered qualified for certain jobs and tasks that others lacking such would not be. Education levels that were once considered necessary only for advancement to the highest levels of society are now necessary for becoming gainfully employed in professions that used to require far fewer years of education. This creates a more savvy employee, but also forces people into classifications that may not reflect their true skills or abilities. Many human resources department demand minimum educational requirements, usually completion of a college degree, even to be considered for jobs that in many cases do not even utilize the skills gained during the education they are requiring. This creates a problem for people who can’t afford a higher education but could enter the skilled labor force on the basis of their skills alone: they are often restricted from becoming gainfully employed in professions they might otherwise be ideal for. As a response to this, many larger organizations have created higher education reimbursement programs where the organizations pay for the employee to become educated. Due to the cost, there are only so many people who can join these programs on any given year and the employee must prove to human resources that they are worth hiring without a degree in the first place. This may be a problematic situation for many people. The price we pay for education is steadily increasing, and it will continue to do so. Those coming from a low income families have less of an opportunity to get into college, particularly the colleges they may wish to attend. There is greater competition for placement at leading schools. With larger percentages of the student body seeking educations from leading institutions, fewer people are accepted into colleges that are their primary choices. Those who do get into the schools they wish to attend, then have to consider paying for their education. Scholarships are an option available to many, but it is very rare for a scholarship to pay for the student’s entire educational career, or even the bulk of it. As a result, many students take out loans to become educated. The vast majority of the members of my generation that choose to attend college and gain a higher education will ultimately enter the workforce in considerable debt. This is done in the hopes that they will find a job immediately out of college in their chosen career, and they expect to be able to begin paying off their debt immediately. For many this does not happen and the debt generated becomes a considerable burden on them. For families haunted by poor economic conditions, financing a higher education using student loans is a gamble. When investing in something so important to shape my future career I want something I know will work, but not every one with a degree is guaranteed a good steady career. Devoting myself to such a considerable expense like that involves risks. While it’s true that risk is necessary to get ahead in life, this risk has caused problems for people and it may leave you feeling cheated out of your money if you can’t get a good job in the field of your choice. The quality of education is also a consideration for someone entering college. If you wind up getting a bad teacher, it may cause bitterness if the experience had a negative effect on your education. We all have had our share of bad teachers, but for some this causes more strife than others.. One time I had a teacher who didn’t teach but gave out materials and work assignments demanding improvement without consideration to student understanding, so if we did well or improved then good, if not too bad its our own fault. The increased need for more educators as a result of increased student population may be causing colleges and universities to hire teachers who may not be the quality of educator that they would otherwise higher. So while the cost of education is increasing, the quality of education is regarded by many to be decreasing. While higher education is far from perfect, it is still necessary for people to advance, both from a career and a personal perspective. The cost of higher education may prohibit people in lower social classes from partaking in career paths they may otherwise have enjoyed. The quality of education relative to the cost is also considered to be a modern problem. Those who get beyond these issues will still gain considerable debt as a result of their educational career. Even given these problems, the value of getting a higher education is still unquestionable.

Lethal Injection: A study of influenza vaccines

Every fall season we hear the question; did you get your flu shot yet? It is supposed to protect you from that nasty flu virus that circulates our communities during the fall and winter months. But, did you know that in 2011 the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Adverse Event Reporting Systems Website (AERS) reported 51 deaths caused by the flu vaccine in the United States (U. S. ) (CDC,2012).According to National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), as of July 2012 there have been more than 84,000 reports of adverse reactions, 1000 vaccine related deaths and over 1600 cases of Guillain- Barre syndrome, a acute form of paralysis, triggered by the vaccine (NVIC. ORG). A problem exists in the fact that according to the ( NVIC) fewer than 1% of all adverse vaccine reactions are ever reported, this fact is substantiated by the problem of â€Å"underreporting† vaccine injuries according to the joint operated site by the CDC and Food and Drug Administration ( FDA) (VAERS, 2011).Resear ch claims that receiving the flu vaccine exposes people to a number of dangerous chemicals that have been known to cause multiple side effects, disease conditions, and deaths. The U. S. Government’s public health agency, the CDC, pledges â€Å"to base all public health decisions on the highest quality scientific data openly and objectively derived† (Doshi, 2013, Marketing vaccines, Para 1). Peter Doshi, a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of medicine, argues that in the case of influenza vaccines and their marketing this is not the case.He believes that the vaccine might be less beneficial and less safe than has been claimed and the threat of influenza appears overstated. Doshi goes on to further question the CDC’s recommendation that the influenza vaccine can only do good, pointing to serious reactions to influenza vaccines in Australia, Finland and Sweden. (British Medical Journal, 2013) Every year scientists travel to Asia and have to gue ss which specific viruses are active and circulating that season and have to chose 3 strains of flu out of the 300+ known documented strains of influenza (flu) viruses.These 3 viruses are then attenuated or weakened and added to the mix of a number of other ingredients, which we will review, to make a flu vaccine. The ingredients listed in influenza vaccines are available in the inserts provided by the vaccine manufacturers and also posted on the CDC’s vaccine Pinkbook website. A few of the ingredients include Thimerosol, 2 Phenoxyethanol, Aluminum, Beta Propiolactone, Ammonium Sulfate, Formaldehyde, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), Gentamycin Sulfate, Polymixin B and more. The ingredient Thimerosol is used as a preservative in the vaccine.It is 49. 6% mercury by weight and is a powerful neurotoxin. It has been implicated in many heath conditions such as cardiovascular collapse, autism, seizures, mental retardation, hyperactivity, dyslexia and many other central nervous system (CN S) disorders. ( CDC, Pinkbook). The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says it best: â€Å"Mercury in all of its forms is toxic to the fetus and children and efforts should be made to reduce exposure to the extent possible to pregnant women and children as well as the general population† (AAP.Pediatrics- para 8, 2001).2 Phenoxyethanol is an anti bacterial agent being used as a replacement for the preservative Thimerosal. This industrial ingredient is used in perfumes, insect repellents, antiseptics, germicides and dyes. According to the Material safety data sheet( MSDS) 2 Phenoxyethanol is harmful if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed thru the skin. It may cause reproductive defects. EPA data sheets show chromosomal changes and genetic mutation effects in testing (Dunkin, 2008). Aluminum is added to vaccines in many forms.It works as an adjuvant to stimulate your immune system’s response to the virus in the vaccine. Aluminum has been found to be a dangerous neurotoxin th at has the ability to slip past the blood brain barrier (BBB) causing brain damage, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS), convulsions and coma. Human and animal studies have shown that Aluminum can cause nerve death (Mercola, 2011) Beta Propiolactone is an ingredient to assist with sterilizing the vaccine. It ranks high as a hazardous chemical on at least 5 federal regulatory lists.It has caused lymphomas and hepatomas after being injected into lab mice but its true effects on humans is not known. Due to animal study results the international Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified beta-Propiolactone as a possible carcinogen. MSDS sheet states toxic to liver and kidneys (Spectrum Laboratory Products). Ammonium Sulfate is a substance added to pesticides. It is unknown at this time as a carcinogen but it’s been suspected in gastrointestinal, liver, central nervous system (CNS) and respiratory system toxi city.On its MSDS sheet all hazards identification on carcinogen, mutatagenic (cellular mutations), teratogenic (fetal development) and developmental toxicity are listed as â€Å"not available†. (ScienceLab, MSDS) Formaldehyde is used as a preservative to stabilize the vaccine. It is used as a chemical to embalm dead bodies and preserve laboratory specimens. It has been classified as a known human carcinogen (cancer causing substance) and has been ranked as one of the most hazardous compounds on at least 8 federal regulatory lists.Formaldehyde is suspected of weakening the immune system and causing neurological system damage, genetic damage, metabolic acidosis, circulatory shock, respiratory failure, and acute renal failure (ARF) (Kendon, MSDS. 2004). Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is used in vaccines as a stabilizer to prevent the vaccine from breaking down. MSG is also found in processed foods. MSG has been linked to mental retardation, autistic disorders, learning disorders, be havioral disorders, reproductive disorders, retinal damage and lesions on the brains of lab animals (Hoernlein,2012).Gentamycin Sulfate is an antibiotic added to protect the vaccine from bacteria during storage. Gentamycin sulfate has been linked to deafness, nervous system disorders, and kidney damage (Sciencelab. MSDS). Polymixin B, an antibiotic that is added to protect the vaccine from gram negative bacteria during storage, has side effects that include: targeting the central nervous system (neurotoxic) and causing kidney failure from acute tubular necrosis (Luther,2013). Any one of the above ingredients can have negative effects on the human body especially the very young , very old, pregnant, and the immunocompromised population.But the effects of all of these ingredients in one vaccine, that’s certainly toxic and at times can be lethal. A normal response to an influenza vaccine is localized redness, soreness, fatigue, mild fever, malaise for 1-3 days following a flu sh ot. Consider these adverse reactions listed by MClawers, a vaccine injury law firm The numbers of injuries resulting from the these vaccines were so undeniable that in October, 1988 Congress created the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, creating the National Vaccine Compensation Program(VICP).The VICP is a no fault alternative to the traditional tort system for resolving vaccine injury claims and provides compensation to people found to be injured by certain vaccines (all Influenza vaccines are covered). Every vaccine is taxed and the monies go into a compensation fund that is managed by US Court of Federal Claim, complete with vaccine courts, vaccine judges and attorneys who specialize in vaccine cases only. Monies are awarded to patients/families who have suffered from vaccine related injuries or deaths. In 2011, 200 million dollars were paid out in compensation for vaccine injuries.In 2012, there was 300 billion dollars available in the vaccine injury compensation trust fund . Overwhelming evidence of the numbers of people hurt by the toxic ingredients in the influenza vaccines and the incidence of adverse reactions, permanent injuries and deaths due to the toxic ingredients in the influenza vaccines continue to climb. Research has well documented these injuries and exposed the cause and effect of hazardous chemicals on our human population. A little knowledge can be frightening, meanwhile a lack of knowledge can be lethal. Be informed.

Banjo Paterson’s Clancy of the Overflow and Henry Lawson’s Up the Country Essay

Australian Bush Ballads have captured the essence of early Australian life. Bush Ballads do more than this they often deal with the hardships encountered living on the land as well as the people of the bush. The poetry of â€Å"Henry Lawson† and â€Å"Banjo Paterson† deal with these concepts. While Banjo Paterson defends and romanticises the bush in his many ballads for example â€Å"Clancy of the Overflow†, Henry Lawson provides a more balanced view of the bush in his poems, in particular â€Å"Up the Country.† Poem – Clancy of the overflow by Banjo Paterson Topic sentence – â€Å"Clancy of the Overflow† is typical of an Australian Bush Ballad. In this poem, Clancy serves as the representation of what Australians should be like, which is wild, adventurous, pioneering, friendly and free. Body – Paterson’s poem â€Å"Clancy of the overflow† criticises the dynamics of town life because it objects to the values the bush is based upon. For Paterson, these values included order, stagnation, narrowness of vision and unfriendliness. Paterson feels as though these values will not create a better Australia. Banjo Paterson romanticises about the Australian bush and in this poem he describes how wonderful and extravagant life in the bush is by using flowing and expressive language for example vision splendid, sunlit plains, wondrous glory and everlasting stars. An extract from his poem sums up the landscape of the bush, â€Å"In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars, and he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended, and at night the wondrous glory of the everlasting stars.† Banjo Paterson has created a flowing stanza of rhyme which depicts and portrays the awe of the Australian bush using imagery making the reader more involved in the story. Clancy personifies Paterson’s vision of what the Australian should be. He is an individual who is a part of the historical evolution of Australia in touch with the traditions of life on the land. Paterson is celebrating this aspect of Australia and idealising the experience of the shearer and drover,  in general. Quote – â€Å"In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars, and he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended, and at night the wondrous glory of the everlasting stars.† Poem – Up the Country by Henry Lawson Topic sentence – â€Å"Up the Country† by â€Å"Henry Lawson† contrasts city and bush life but still conveys a balanced and descriptive perspective on what the bush and city are like. Body – Henry Lawson’s ability to portray and capture a true image of the bush and city in his poems is exemplary particularly in his poem â€Å"Up the Country.† Although Henry Lawson dislikes the Australian Bush and degrades the scenery, he also describes the isolation of the outback and the devastation brought by the fires, floods and droughts. Therefore Australian Bush Ballads do show us the challenges of living in the Australian Landscape. Henry Lawson believed that an Australian identity must emanate from its own soil, not from the safe green fields of the mother country, Britain. This is why he took such a strong stance on the bush. The landscape in the poem â€Å"Up the Country† is described as being filled with â€Å"miles and miles of thirsty gutters† which is reflecting on the Australian landscape being affected by drought, and Isolation, for the thirsty gutters stretch for miles and miles. In this extract the reader is brought to the understanding that the bush is an isolated and harsh place. Henry Lawson has written this poem in first person, so as to give his personal opinion of the bush. This can clearly be seen by the title, Up the Country. In this poem he has depicted and conveyed different alley ways into the world of the Australian bush, by using descriptive language he has shaped and given the reader an understanding of what life in the bush would really be like. Quote – â€Å"Miles and miles of thirsty gutters†

Adhd Research Paper (Argumentative Essay)

Over the past couple of decades there has been a huge increase in the diagnosis and prescriptions given out for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. According to a news report done by USA Today over the past five years use of ADHD medications have risen 40% totaling 39. 5 million individual prescriptions (â€Å"New findings,† 2009). When statistics like this are seen it is only normal for someone to ask questions. People are becoming curious about the legitimacy of the disorder, and whether or not the treatments being given to individuals are appropriate.The argument seems to be strong on both sides of the fence, but the extensive research done on ADHD leaves it hard for one to believe that it is a made up disorder. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD is a neurobehavioral development disorder diagnosed by a number of symptoms. An article by Ayesha Sajid, Maria C. Poor, and David R. Diaz states that the history of ADHD goes back to 1902 when physician Sir Geor ge Frederick Sill came up with what he called â€Å"defect of moral control†(58). Dr. Still saw this â€Å"defect† to be something beyond the sufferer's control.Sajid, Poor, and Diaz go on to talk about the disorders terminology changes up to 1980 when it was officially recognized as Attention Deficit Disorder, with or without hyper activity. â€Å"ADHD has been defined by Russel A. Barkley as a disorder of response inhibition and executive dysfunction leading to deficits in self regulation, impairment in the ability to organize behavior toward present and future goals, and difficulty adapting socially and behaviorally to environmental demands†(Sajid, Poor, and Diaz 58). Subsequently it has been proven that neurotransmitter Dopamine plays a big role in ADHD's symptoms listed above.It plays a large role in our brains functions including motivation, reward, and punishment. In Sajid, Poor, and Diaz's article they discuss treating the lack of the neurotransmitter do pamine by using stimulant medications (58). They recognize that stimulants are dopamine agonist which promote the release of stored dopamine(58). Examples of stimulant medications include but aren't limited to Aderall, Vyvanse, Concerta, and Ritalin. Although stimulants are statistically proven to be the most effective form of treatment it is not the only option.There are several forms of non stimulant medications that are used for treatment but not as commonly as stimulants. Beyond medications are behavioral therapies which can be effective in treating ADHD. The USA today article â€Å"New findings raise questions about use of ADHD drugs† says that at the three year mark behavioral therapies such as parenting and classroom behavioral therapies catch up to stimulant medication treatment. Consequently there was no evident difference in those who received therapies and those who have been taking medications.Results in studies such as these leave many to think about the appropri ateness of stimulant medications. Today many argue about the risk of long term effect from stimulant medication use. Why not go to alternative treatment methods such as behavioral therapy? And those even more opposed often deny the existence of ADHD entirely. To many it is not a disorder, rather a result of bad parenting, too much sugar, or just the result of an energetic child. It is easy to see how these conclusions can easily be jumped to. A lack of personal experience with the disorder is most definitely a cause for lack of understanding.Those who have ADHD would be able to tell anyone it is not something that is easy to understand. The constant lack of motivation, concentration, and control aren't symptoms ADHD victims can control. Working in school becomes nearly impossible for some with these symptoms and it is not just from laziness. The lack of the neurotransmitter dopamine effects these parts of the brains functions. These symptoms are something caused by a chemical imbala nce rather than by the choice of an individual. Though this is true the disorder won't get better on its own.ADHD victims need to help themselves get better, it is a disorder that can be overcome. For many no matter what facts are available ADHD is simply not real. It is easy to understand where people with this point of view are coming from. Starting off with the fact the ADHD doesn't seem to be present in other countries around the world. Children's psychologist Angela Southall claims that 90% of the worlds Ritalin is being prescribed in the United States (Southhall). So yes ADHD is more prevalent in the United States than anywhere else in the world.This leads many to believe that ADHD is something made up by the United States pharmaceutical industry as some sort of hoax. This is certainly an argument that can be credited even by the opposing point of view. It does seem that pharmaceutical companies are marketing their ADHD medications strategically in the United States to get as many people onboard as possible. On the opposing side of this argument it has little to do with stating whether ADHD is real or not. The ideas of the disorder did in fact come up far before pharmaceuticals were involved in the treatment. Another common opposition to ADHD is the medications used to treat it.People wonder why hyperactive children are being treated with stimulants. The side effects of stimulant medications seem to not be so positive and don't seem to be acceptable for a child with ADHD. Side effects such as motor tics, insomnia, and loss of appetite are all commonly seen among stimulant medications. Stimulant medications are also known to be highly addictive. Their is a dangerous possibility of substance abuse with the medications. People wonder if something causes side effects such as these, there must be some sort of possibility of long term effects from medication use.It is certain that stimulant medications are not something to be messed with. They need to be used appropriately by the right people in order for the treatment to be safe. Probably the most common argument to ADHD's legitimacy is that it is just the way that child behaves. Many are against putting a labeled disorder on a child or adults particular behavior. To many a child's behavior is a result of the way they are parented. Kids that are not performing well in school must have not been parented properly at home. This is probably the case for some of the children in school but certainly not all.Many parents go above and beyond to fix their child's behavior before even thinking about putting a medical diagnosis on their child. For many parents this is the last thing they would want to do. It is important to understand that ADHD is a complex disorder that involves a lengthy and broad diagnosis process. Understanding ADHD is not easy and requires an extensive amount of research to gain an understanding. There are three important features when it comes to the ADHD diagnosis process. Impulsiveness, inattention, and hyperactivity levels are all tested by a checklist of symptoms.An article on ADHD states that their are five parts of the diagnosis process. It needs to be understood that all symptoms must be more severe than another individual at a comparable level of development. The five parts of the diagnosis process are labeled parts A through E (Goldstein and Naglieri 860). Part A contains the often cited 18 diagnostic symptoms; Part B requires that symptoms must cause impairment before age 7; C that impairment must be present in two or more settings; D that there is clear evidence â€Å"of clinically signi? cant impairment in social, academic or occupational function† (p. 3); and ? nally, E requires that symptoms should not occur exclusively during the course of other conditions or be better accounted for by other mental disorders. As you can see a process such as this makes it difficult when trying to clearly identify whether an individual has ADHD or not (Goldstein and Naglieri 860). Taking a look at ADHD's 18 diagnostic symptoms is a good way to understand they way ADHD effects a certain individual. The American Psychiatric Association lists the following symptoms to be part of the inattention category of ADHD.Failing to pay close attention to detail or make careless mistakes in schoolwork, difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play activities, not listening when spoken to directly, often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish multiply types of work, difficulty organizing tasks and activities, often avoids or is reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort, often loses things necessary for tasks or activities, often easily distracted by extraneous stimuli, and is often forgetful in daily activities (124).These symptoms are used to classify what is considered inattentive ADHD commonly known as ADD. The American Psychiatric Association refers to two more categories of symptoms regar ding ADHD. The Hyperactivity category includes symptoms such as often fidgeting with hands or feet, Often leaves seat in classroom or in other situations in which remaining seated is expected, Often runs about or climbs excessively in inappropriate situations, often talks excessively, often has difficulty playing or engaging in leisure activities quietly (124).The next category of symptoms developed by the APA regard impulsiveness. These symptoms include often blurting out answers before questions have been completed, often has difficulty awaiting turn, and often interrupts or intrudes on others (124). These two categories are used to classify two different types of ADHD. One being combined ADHD which requires that symptoms from the inattention and hyperactivity categories be present. The other type is hyperactive-impulsive ADHD which requires that symptoms from hyperactivity and impulsiveness are present.For an individual to be diagnosed with ADHD they must not only suffer from a r ange of symptoms but also fulfill parts B through E of the diagnosis process. The second four parts of the diagnosis are what separates those with ADHD and an individual that would be labeled as lazy. ADHD is developed in adolescence. This is a big factor in separating those with ADHD, and say college students who trying to receive an Aderall or Ritialin prescription to help get their work done. When being diagnosed it would be hard for a doctor to really tell if the individual had suffered from the symptoms at an early age or not.People of this age being diagnosed results in people questioning the legitimacy of ADHD. It needs to be understood that ADHD symptoms are something that an individual must have dealt with nearly their whole lives. Part C of the diagnosis process states that the symptoms must be present in two or more settings. When a child isn't performing well in school, and matches ADHD symptoms there is not enough evidence to diagnose that child with the disorder. Sympt oms must be seen in other aspects of the individuals life such as on a little league sports team or at home.This makes it clear that the person actually has problems with the control of their actions. Similar symptoms in multiple environments make it clear that someone is actually having problems with ADHD, rather than just school itself. One of the most key parts of the diagnosis process would probably be part D. For and Individual to actually have ADHD the symptoms must be significant. Symptoms are usually declared significant by being compared to by another individual at the same level of development. For example some children's hyperactive behavioral actions could be explained by simply being a child.Children have a lot of energy and enjoy to play. A child who actually has ADHD would have energy levels much higher than those in the rest of the class. They would appear to be much more restless and inattentive than almost all of the individuals in their class. This is the part of the diagnosis process that really separates the real cases from the fakes. People often over exaggerate symptoms in order to be diagnosed with ADHD. The final part of the diagnosis process part E is what declares that a child officially has ADHD.This part of the diagnosis process is what makes sure that a child isn't being misdiagnosed with ADHD. It is necessary to make sure an individuals ADHD is not being mistaken for another mental disorder. This is where it is important that a full background check of the individual is taken into account. It is important that every little detail of the individuals history is taken in order to avoid a false diagnosis. Usually the patients genetic background will be looked at to see if any other mental disorders are seen in that patients genetic history.The patients background check is also an important part selecting the proper treatment. As discussed briefly earlier ADHD stimulants play a big role in the ADHD controversy. It is known that stimul ant medications are the most common approach to treating ADHD. An article â€Å"Overview of ADHD† make this claim about the effectiveness of Stimulant medications, â€Å"With reported 65% to 75% clinical improvement in double-blinded placebo controlled trials in both children and adults, they are considered as first-line therapy† (Sajid, Poor, Diaz 58).With statistics like this the effectiveness of stimulants cannot be questioned. Sajid, Poor, and Diaz claim that stimulants are the best researched form of treatment (58). They continue to talk about the options of either long acting or short acting stimulate formulations that contain methlyphenidate (58). Methylphenidate is what promotes the release of stored dopamine into the brain and selectively promotes the release of newly synthesized dopamine into the brain. By understanding this it is easy for one to see that dopamine certainly plays a role in ADHD.If sufferers of ADHD didn't have some sort of imbalance of dopami ne levels why would the medication be so efficient. This certainly rules out certain aspects of the opposing sides argument on ADHD. For one this shows that ADHD is not simply a disorder of laziness, bad parenting, or lack of control. The severity and uncontrollableness of the individuals behavior can be further explained by something other than reason. The symptoms are for certain a result of an individuals dopamine levels present in their brain. Through this information one can see that the use of stimulant medications to treat ADHD are appropriate.Unfortunately there is a lot more to the argument for this conclusion to be made. A series of questions are brought up by the opposing view even after seeing information similar to what has been presented. Opposers commonly like to question the increase in the prescription of stimulant medications since their origin. Research done by the Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental health shows a 700% increase in the use of stimulant m edications since the 1990's (Lefever, Arcona, and Antonuccio). There is a lot to be said about this increase, as it explains a lot of ADHD's history.A book titled Minimal Brain Dysfunction in Children helps us trace the use of stimulant medications to treat ADHD like disorders back to 1960 (Wender et al. 10). The period of 30 years from 1960 to 1990 was more than enough time for people to start actually hearing about ADHD. We can assume that since 1960 the general public in america has gained a much better understanding of the disorder. For people to be skeptics of the disorder and its treatment methods upon their initial discovery is something easy to understand.Once research of the disorder and its medications were made available to the public showing proper information about the disorder it would likely become more acceptable. Although the timing of an increase in the disorders popularity can be explained, the tremendous increase and constantly growing numbers may still seem a my stery to many. These growing numbers can be explained by a few different things. To start the growing popularity of the disorder has made it seem more acceptable to have. Parents of children and adults themselves aren't hesitating to be diagnosed and treated for ADHD.This factor by itself can explain an increase in diagnosis since 1990, although something as simple as this doesn't fully explain the 700% increase statistic we have seen (Lefever, Arcona, and Antonuccio). A major part of the problem linking to ADHD's overwhelming increase in acceptance is misdiagnosis and even an entirely false diagnosis. Due to the competitive nature of humans, parents are looking to have their child diagnosed to receive advantages in school. Students who have disabilities are allowed extra time on tests and given other advantages to make up for their disorder.This has parents headed to the doctor to give false accusations about the severity of their child's ADHD symptoms. A statistic given in a Medic al News Today article states that 46. 7% of the children diagnosed with ADHD only displayed mild symptoms, compared to the 13. 8% that actually suffered from severe symptoms. This statistic provides evidence that a majority of the ADHD diagnosis' are made on children who don't display significant problems with their symptoms. As a result of this we can conclude that due to the significance level of symptoms being 46. % of the ADHD diagnosed population, that a majority of this population doesn't actually have ADHD according to the diagnosis process. The problem of ADHD over diagnosis can be solved through its definition. Author David Antonuccio claims in an article that part of the ADHD definition is statistical rarity limiting only a certain amount of the population to have the disorder. He goes on to say that the ADHD prevalence estimate was set at 3% to 5% (Antonuccio). Having this statistic in the definition certainly verifies that increasing false diagnosis of ADHD is certainly becoming more common in The United States.Another article from The Washington Post written by Steven Weinberg shares a statistic that claims 9% of children in America have ADHD. This goes 4% above the prevalence estimate of 3% to 5% when describing ADHD's statistical rarity. This helps us realize that the leniency, broadness, and lack of control over the diagnosis process is what is causing the tremendous diagnosis increase seen in the disorder. Having this information displayed makes it clear how misconceptions about the legitimacy of ADHD are created. People having seen this huge increase in diagnosis and treatment is what makes them question the disorder.Now having seen how ADHD diagnosis has become increasingly popular we can conclude that it has nothing to do with the validity of the disorder. This problem belongs to the people of The United States rather than the ADHD community. It is important when looking at the truthfulness of ADHD to look at the definition of the term rath er than the cultural problems it has aroused. The problem of false and misdiagnosis are not the only things that raise questions about ADHD. People seem to think there is only a presence of ADHD in The United States.While it is true that ADHD rates are much higher in The United States, it is certainly not the only country in the world who is involved with the disorder. A newspaper article put out by The Times in the United Kingdom shows that they are dealing with problems similar to those in The United States. The article goes over statistics that display tremendous increases in stimulant medication prescriptions in several different parts of the UK. In a similar article it is stated that in the country Scotland prescriptions increased from 4,000 in 1996 to 72,000 in 2009 (Smith 8).Followed by this he says â€Å"The Scottish Government yesterday said the rise was down to better detection of ADHD, a result of wider knowledge of the condition among health workers†(Smith 8). Aft er taking a look at what is going on in the UK, it's safe to say they are undergoing the same process The United States did years ago. The lack of knowledge about ADHD in previous years is what kept ADHD diagnosis so low in certain countries until more recent years. This helps us clear up the misconception that ADHD is something that only exists in The United States.Countries all over the world are continuously seeing large increases in diagnosis rates of ADHD. The reason the rates aren't as high as The United States is simply because the disorder is something new to these countries. Now it should be safe to say that ADHD is in fact a real disorder. With today's technologies resulting in new discoveries on the brains functions and the disorder's acceptance present in the worlds developed countries make it difficult for any individual to deny this fact. Although the controversy of ADHD's legitimacy has been made clear, the argument does not end here.In close relation to the over diag nosis controversy, a similar controversy is aroused by ADHD's stimulant medications. Stimulant medications have aroused a whole new controversy of their own in the medical world today. It is common to see an individual reject the use of stimulant medications because of the various negative side effects that come with their use. The question of long term effects being caused by stimulant medications is being seen more often among users themselves, and anyone else involved in the argument over ADHD.A study shown in the Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services holds the answers to these questions. In order to gain an understanding of stimulant medications it is necessary that a brief summary of this study is given. A table titled Effects of Long-Term Stimulant Therapy on Safety Outcomes in Children With ADHD states the following information regarding side effects of stimulants; Treatment was well tolerated, 7. 6% of patients discontinued treatment. Minimal effects on weight and heigh were seen. Small if any changes in blood pressure or heart rate. Headaches were seen in 3% of patients, insomnia in 19. % of patients, decreased appetite in 18. 7%, abdominal pain in 11. 1%, and tics in 9. 4% of the patients (Wilens, Donner, Michaels, Ambrosini, Biederman, and Lerner). As you can see questionable side effects are seen with the use of stimulant medications. There is a possibility to have trouble sleeping, have problems with abdominal pain, a decreased appetite, and suffer from tics. This study was done over a two year period so it insures that most side effects caused by stimulants were seen in this study. In the two years of this study nothing was discovered that wasn't know before.With the long term use if stimulants you will most likely suffer from a few negative side effects. ADHD patients involved in stimulant treatment would be able to tell you the side effects may not seem pleasant, but can be overcome by proper use of the stimulant. To begin stimulant medications must be taken early in the morning to avoid possible insomnia. For extended release stimulants the effects last anywhere from 12-18 hours. Taking your medication early in the morning gives time for the medications effects to wear off. It is also important that an individual under treatment makes the effort to eat.Stimulant medications decrease appetite not allowing an individual to realize their hunger. Although one may not feel hungry, it is important to eat healthy foods for every meal of the day. Not eating due to stimulant treatment can become a problem and result in serious weight loss. It is important that a few more things are taken into account when being treated with stimulant medications. Before treatment even starts it is important that the proper prescription be given. The article â€Å"Overview of ADHD† gives this information on stimulant treatment, â€Å"Before prescribing any medication, a full history should be taken.In the case of stimu lants, it is especially important to check for a personal or family history of heart conditions and arrhythmias. Of Course, a complete physical examination is also required with referral to a cardiologist if indicated from information in the history† (Sajid, Poor, Diaz 58). Once heart Conditions are ruled out it is safe to say that with a proper ADHD diagnosis stimulant treatment is appropriate. Parents may want to monitor their children carefully once treatment begins. It is important to watch the way one reacts to the medications to make sure none of the side effects cause serious harm.Weight and height should be monitored carefully. In the instance of significant weight or height change treatment should be discontinued. Stimulant medications hold another attribute that give users one more reason to take caution. Stimulant medications are proven to be addictive when the user disregards their prescribed amount. It needs to be understood that in no case should an individual ex ceed their recommended dose. This is considered abuse of stimulant medications and can result in serious problems. An article regarding the misuse and abuse of stimulant medications gives a list of symptoms that help detect misuse or abuse.Users themselves and parents of adolescent users should look for behavioral changes, problems in school or work, change in activities and friends, heightened attention, long periods of sleeplessness, not eating, secrecy and isolation, fatigue, depression, racing heart, confusion and delusion, aggressiveness, irritability, mood swings, weight loss, and dilated pupils (McCarthy). These symptoms will all become apparent when dealing with one that abuses their prescription. The possibility of addiction among stimulant users does in fact exist.This addictive attribute can be disregarded given that the prescription is used as directed by his or her physician. Through the series of information given on the effects of stimulants it can be said that they'r e appropriate as long as the individual being treated takes the necessary precautions. They are effective in treating those with ADHD, and are the answer to the problem for many. For some individuals stimulant medications may not be the right treatment. In this case there are many other options of treatments and therapies that are appropriate for treating those with ADHD.In fact the effectiveness of behavioral therapies among those with ADHD has aroused another controversy regarding stimulant medications. This relatively new controversy is brought up in the USA Today article â€Å"New findings raise questions about use of ADHD drugs†. A quote from the article regarding studies on behavioral therapies says, â€Å"It now reports the advantage is gone by the three-year mark. By the six and eight-year mark, across 30 measures of behavior and academics, the children still being given medication by their parents fared no better than their non-medicated counterparts†¦ † (2009).This quote is referring to behavioral therapy's ability to catch up to the effectiveness of stimulant medications after a three year period. This causes many to question the use of stimulant medications. It wouldn't make sense to pump your child full of amphetamines when you can gain the same results by behavioral therapy. Refuting the previous argument three years is a long time. As Stimulants are instantly effective many individuals are looking for instant results. Although reaching a conclusion on this argument isn't possible, combined treatment methods completely erase the idea of the argument.If both forms of treatment are seen to be equally effective, why not use them both. With the instant effectiveness of stimulants and the long term effectiveness of behavioral therapies, a whole new therapy can be created that is twice as effective. ADHD patients on stimulants would be more susceptible to participating in behavioral therapies. Thus the therapies process would go much quicker producing positive results in half the time. Combined therapy is the ultimate way for any ADHD victim to overcome their problem.Through all of the information that has been given in this argument two final conclusions have been reached. The first conclusion was that ADHD is in fact a real disorder. The second conclusion would be that among individuals that qualify for their use, stimulant medications are an appropriate method of treatment. After seeing long term studies on the safety of their use and studies on their overall effectiveness it is safe to make this conclusion. As ADHD is one of the most researched disorders in medicine it is only normal for a large portion of information to be left out this argument.The large amount of information that has been left out of this argument makes it natural for objections to be made. For some the evidence presented isn't enough to acknowledge the truth of the conclusions that have been reached. This is completely understandable am ong those who are heavily apposed to the argument. It is possible that there is information available that opposes the view that was presented. Chances are that information would be much less credible than what was presented, but it is important to recognize possible objections before the argument is complete.It is only normal for any individual to hold personal beliefs. Individuals opposed to the argument may have their own beliefs that disregard the facts that have been presented. For example an individual that is heavily opposed stimulant medication use would object to the conclusion reached on behavioral therapies. To certain individuals behavioral therapy is better option than the combination of stimulants with therapy. Their personal belief being stimulants are an inappropriate method of treatment leaves the effective option of behavioral therapy to be the better choice of treatment.In this situation credit can be given to this objection, but the facts available don't give it as much support as the original conclusion. There are certainly objections to the argument that can be based on fact. The position stated on the presence of ADHD in other countries will be objected by many opposers of the argument. Even after seeing the factual evidence that ADHD popularity is on the rise in other countries, many would argue that the presence in other countries is only a fraction of what is seen in The United States.This statement may seem to be the basis of a strong argument but is counteracted by other factors. When the numbers are measured in individuals the countries population needs to be taken into account. The US has a much larger population than most countries causing individuals as a unit of measure to be much higher. When a percentage is created by dividing the amount of individuals by the countries population much more accurate results becomes available. When looking at ADHD rates in units of percentage similar rates are seen among the worlds developed co untries.The most expected objection to the given position would be regarding stimulant medications. Although the results of the two year study regarding the safety of stimulant medication use displayed no significant danger in use, opposers remain pessimistic. To many the evidence provided by a two year study isn't enough. It is strongly believed by many that the long term use of stimulants will eventually negatively impact health. This objection is hard to argue due to the fact that we are not able to look into the future. Negative health effects from long term use of stimulant medications is certainly a possibility.Looking back on the fact that ADHD and its treatments are among the best researched ideas in medicine gives hope that any long term health effects would have by now been recognized. Now that all of the possible flaws on the presented position have been reviewed it can now be said that the conclusions reached are justified. ADHD is in fact a real disorder, and the use of stimulant medications for treatment are appropriate. ADHD is a disorder that should be accepted and understood by society. It is a mental disorder that results in significant behavioral and social problems in an individual's life. The disorder is omplex and causes changes in the brains functions causing a series of symptoms to occur. Society needs to realize that disregarding ADHD's legitimacy is offensive to those who suffer from it. It is crucial for members of society to regard that use of medications for treatment is the only way for some individuals to overcome these symptoms. Passing on knowledge of ADHD is important to the future of the disorder on those who suffer from it. Regardless of any personal beliefs it is important to respect the beliefs of other. The controversy over the disorder needs to come to an end, and the fact that ADHD is real needs to be recognized.