Media influence on decision-making, ethical and unethical practices Research Paper

Media influence on decision-making, ethical and unethical practices - Research Paper Example More than subliminal messaging, media utilizes various other techniques to present information; the public in general lack understanding of even these techniques and fall easy prey, thus taking decisions that they would otherwise not. Pharmaceutical marketers argue that advertising and promoting drugs allows for the patients to be more informed and know their options when it comes to therapy or medication (Buckley 4). More than often the media and marketers have been known to presents information in a manner which can be misleading. In a survey conducted in USA in 2012 it was reported that 60% of all Americans do not trust the media to report the news completely and accurately (Morales). When it comes to news the media is only having an effect on the opinion of the people but when it comes to health marketing and communication it is the health and lives of people and consumers which are at stake. Media Pressure and Persuasion Media pressure means to exercise influence over the ideologies, practices, opinions and values of people (CYH). Hirsch & Gandolf believe that health care advertising agencies use a lot more than budgets allocated for media advertising and innovative ideas; persuasion and its various techniques are employed to market healthcare products to the medical community in specific and public in general. Persuasion has been a strong technique to influence control over the people by controlling and manipulating their behavior (Shanti).

Case study following Essay Example for Free

Case study following Essay Each student needs to complete a case study write-up and submit by the due date following the submission requirements outlined in the course profile (and provided below). Students need to address the following questions in their case study write-up for the Kanthal A case: 1. Describe the competitive environment in which Kanthal operates. 2. Describe in detail how the old cost system operates. Your answer should include a detailed description of how selling, general and administrative (S,G A) costs are treated. 3. What is the opportunity faced by Kanthal in relation to reducing batch costs? 4. Describe in detail how the new cost system works. Your answer should include a detailed analysis of the calculations in Exhibit 5 and a description of the each of the steps and their importance in in the new cost system. Within each of the steps, the derivation of the separate line should be shown. 5. Calculate the profit on the following orders using information from Exhibit 5. The characteristics of the orders are: †¢ Order 1: Sales SEK2000, 1 order, In stock †¢ Order 2: Sales SEK2000, 1 order, Non Stock †¢ Order 3: Sales SEK160000, 3 orders, Non Stock. †¢ Order 4: Sales SEK160000, 28 orders, 22 Non Stock All of your calculations are to be derived from Exhibit 5. This includes Volume Costs, Order costs for Non-Stocked Products and Selling and Administrative Order Costs. What does a comparison of the orders show? From Exhibit 6 and Exhibit 7 provide an example which matches closely to the four orders above. 6. What are some action plans that Kanthal might pursue in response to information provided from the new cost system? Case Write-up Requirements: Your case write-up should consist of your individual response to each of the questions provided. These questions are aimed at directing your attention to the major problem and issues faced by the company and allow you to apply the concepts and principles covered in ACCT7107 to date to a real business. There is no requirement to answer more than what has been asked in these questions nor to prepare the write-up as a report, however, headings and sub-headings should be used within the answers to each questions to facilitate a good flow. You are limited to 800 words (12 point font and minimum 1. 5 line spacing). The case study will be graded according to your individual write-up. Students are encouraged to follow the ‘How to Prepare a Case Study’ approach prepared by Sid Huff and Ron Weber provided as a handout in Week 1(also provided in the Lecture 1 Learning Materials on the course blackboard website). Submission Requirements: The submission requirements outlined in the course profile are provided below: Submission: Students must submit their case write-up with completed BEL Faculty Assignment cover sheet by 4pm on Friday 2 September, 2011 to the BEL Faculty Collaborative Learning Centre (Level 1 Bldg 39). Students should also note the new requirements for assignment submission also taken from your course profile (section 5. 4 Other Assessment Information): All assignments are now to be electronically submitted via Blackboard. The instructions for submission are in the Online Submission Folder in your course Blackboard site. The online submission is in addition to any other submission requirements that appear in this ECP. Students should also refresh themselves with the University’s policy on academic integrity and plagiarism. The relevant information taken from your course profile is presented below: Academic Integrity It is the Universitys task to encourage ethical scholarship and to inform students and staff about the institutional standards of academic behaviour expected of them in learning, teaching and research. Students have a responsibility to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity in their work. Students must not cheat in examinations or other forms of assessment and must ensure they do not plagiarise. Plagiarism The University has adopted the following definition of plagiarism: Plagiarism is the act of misrepresenting as ones own original work the ideas, interpretations, words or creative works of another. These include published and unpublished documents, designs, music, sounds, images, photographs, computer codes and ideas gained through working in a group. These ideas, interpretations, words or works may be found in print and/or electronic media. Students are encouraged to read the UQ Academic Integrity and Plagiarism policy (http://www. uq. edu. au/hupp/index. html?page=25128) which makes a comprehensive statement about the Universitys approach to plagiarism, including the approved use of plagiarism detection software, the consequences of plagiarism and the principles associated with preventing plagiarism. If students cannot meet the due date for the case study write-up, the following university policies and guidelines apply: Applications for Extensions †¢ Medical grounds: Applications for extension on medical grounds shall be made by lodging the Application for Extension of Progressive Assessment form and supporting documentation at the location outlined in Section 5. 3 of the Electronic Course Profile for the course concerned. †¢ Exceptional circumstances: Applications for extension on the grounds of exceptional circumstances shall be made to the relevant Course Coordinator/Program Director by lodging the Application for Extension of Progressive Assessment form and a personal statement outlining the grounds for the application at the location and by the due date outlined in Section 5. 3 of the Electronic Course Profile for the course in which this application is made. If the exceptional circumstances are such that the student cannot reasonably be expected to have complied with these conditions, a case should be made as to why these conditions could not be met. †¢ Outcome of application: Students will be advised of the outcome of their application via their student email. Note: A Case Study submitted after the due date and time (for which no extension has been granted prior to the due date), will incur a late submission penalty. The penalty is at the rate of 5% of the total available marks for the assessment item, for each calendar day or part thereof that it remains overdue.

Fluctuating Prices and Declining Income of Farmers

Fluctuating Prices and Declining Income of Farmers INTRODUCTION Farming is the growing of crops and the rearing of animals. Major agricultural products include; fish, cereals, cattle, vegetables, oilseed, poultry, potatoes, sheep. Farming contributed  £5.6 billion to the UK economy in 2006. In the last 25 years, farming in Britain has transformed a lot. Farming provided employment for quite a number of people, but nowadays, with the help of machinery and equipment, and the problems associated with farming, only a few people remain on the farm. The total labour force employed in agriculture in the UK is 541,000, of whom 190,000 are employees and the remaining 351,000 are self-employed farmers, partners, directors and spouses. Overall, 1.8% of the UKs workforce is directly employed in farming .The UK food chain accounts for almost 8% of the total economy (RuSource, 2008). However, farmers have always faced problems such as Increasing population growth, water logging and salinity, converting the arable land into non-agricultural uses, high cost of production, fluctuating prices, declining income, increased tax etc. But this article will focus mainly on why farmers have been facing fluctuating prices and declining income over the years. PRICE AND AGRICULTURE Price is the amount of money needed to purchase something or the quantity of payment or compensation for something. A price fluctuation is a change in the price market. Agricultural experts and businesspeople have blamed fluctuating commodity prices, difficult capital accesses and poor development of downstream industries for poor performance of the countrys agricultural industry. Some of the causes of price fluctuations in agriculture includes; seasonal change in supply which is adversely affected by natural or climatic factors, lack of finance, use of crude implements, seasonal shortage of demand, etc. The market structure of a farm which is perfect competition also affects the price. The market structure is such that the farmer cannot influence the price. The price is determined purely by the forces of demand and supply. According to PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) IV executive director Dahlan Harahap,   fluctuating prices influenced the agricultural industrys performances because most of the companies relied on their revenues on exports. Several major commodities which are mostly exported include crude palm oil (CPO) (77 percent exported), rubber (83 percent), cacao (86) and coffee (70). INCOME AND AGRICULTURE Income is the consumption and savings opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. However, for households and individuals, income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interest payments, rents and other forms of earnings received in a given period of time. For firms, income generally refers to net-profit: what remains of revenue after expenses have been subtracted. Farmers have faced declining income over the years due to high cost of production and low return to investment. According to Dahlan, high bank interest is one of the factors impeding the countrys agricultural industry. Indonesia, he added, sets the highest bank interest rate in Southeast Asia. This however affects farmers income. UK farming incomes are defined at the industry level by a measure known as Total Income from Farming (TIFF) and at the farm level by a measure known as Net Farm Income. Both measures have exhibited long term decline since the 1960s, reaching a low point in 2000 with average Net Farm Income at just  £8700. Governments of many countries have felt it expedient to intervene in agricultural markets, and have resorted to different forms of controls and subsidies. These have often led to the accumulation of vast surpluses, which have sometimes rotted in storage and sometimes been sold abroad at subsidized prices. The theory of demand and supply can be used to understand why farmers face fluctuating price and declining since Price is a reflection of supply and demand. DEMAND AND SUPPLY IN AGRICULTURE The agricultural sector is a very unique sector in economics because it displays characteristics in terms of the demand for and the supply of its goods not seen in any other sector. The principal characteristics of demand are that it is both income and price inelastic and it has high dependency on population and tastes which cause demand to be static in both the short and the long run. On the other hand supply is very volatile in the short run due to extraneous factors because supply is a biological process though in the long run due to technological advances we tend to observe an increasing trend. Also, because agricultural products are perishable and because the production period is long, supply will be inelastic so producers will have to supply in the short run even at very low prices. Another characteristic of supply is its atomistic structure and asset fixity. These basically imply that there will be a large number of insignificant producers and that most agricultural asset will be fixed. These have various implications for prices which are very unstable in the short run and in the long run present a declining trend. Similarly farm incomes tend to be unstable in the short run and converge in the long run though it must be noted that this is also due to extensive government subsidisation of agriculture. DEMAND Demand  refers to how much (quantity) of a product or service is desired by buyers. The quantity demanded is the amount of a good that a consumer is willing and able to buy at a given price over a given period of time. Demand curve is a graph showing the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity of the good demanded over a given time period. Price is measured on the vertical axis; quantity demanded is measured on the horizontal axis The law of demand states that the quantity of a good demanded per period of time will fall as price rises and will rise as price falls, other things being equal (ceteris paribus). Demand on price and income According to Richard and Chrystal (2007); Agricultural production is subject to large variations resulting from factors that are beyond human control. For example, bad weather reduces output below that planned by farmers while exceptionally good weather pushes output above planned levels. Inelastic demand De E Elastic demand D1 Price Inelastic demand P0 Elastic demand Quantity 0 q1 q0 q3 Unplanned changes in output . Figure 3.1 Unplanned fluctuations in output (Richard and Chrystal 2007) Because farm products often have inelastic demands, large price fluctuations causes unplanned changes in production which in turn affects farmers income. Stabilization of agricultural prices: Farmers are allowed to sell their whole crop each year. When production unexpectedly exceeds normal output, the government buys in the market. It allows price to fall, but only by the same proportion that production has increased. When production unexpectedly falls short of normal output, the government enters the market and sells some of its stocks. It allows price to rise, but only by the same proportion that production has fallen below normal. Thus, as farmers encounter unplanned fluctuations in their output, they encounter exactly offsetting fluctuations in prices, so that their revenues are stabilized. In effect, the government has converted the elasticity of demand from being inelastic to being unitary. With a unit elasticity the total revenue of sellers does not change as quantity changes, because given percentage changes in quantity are offset by equal percentage changes of price but in the opposite direction. Figure 3.2 Income stabilization (Richard and Chrystal 2007) Income stabilization is achieved by allowing prices to fluctuate in inverse proportion to output Appropriate government intervention in agricultural markets can reduce price fluctuations and stabilize producers revenues.

Essay --

A Feminist Approach to Susan Glaspell’s â€Å"Trifles† The approach being used for Susan Glaspell’s play is feminist criticism. Glaspell’s play was written in 1916. In the 1900s women were expected to stay home, clean, cook, and take care of the family. Men were the providers of the household, smarter, and in control. Today women are more independent. They are running businesses and taking on more masculine jobs such as, firefighters and police officers. Women are even working and raising families. In some households the wife works while the husband stays home. A woman can do a man’s job and maybe sometimes better. Linda Napikoski explains, â€Å"Feminist criticism is the analysis that arises from the viewpoint of feminism, feminist theory and/or feminist politics. Feminist literary criticism suggest that women in literature were historically presented as objects seen from a male perspective. Feminist literary criticism actively supports including women’s knowledge in literature and valuing women’s experience. It has since intertwined with postmodernism and increasingly complex question of gender and social roles.† â€Å"Trifles was based on true events. In 1900, a man named John Hossack was murdered with an ax while he slept. His wife, Margaret claims to have slept through the murder. The Jury did not believe her story and found her guilty of murder. Susan Glaspell, who was a journalist with Des Moines Daily News, covered the trial for her newspaper. Even though she did not have any criminal justice background, Glaspell acted like a true detective. She investigated the murder by visiting the farmhouse where Hossack and his wife Margaret lived. She also interviewed attorneys and studied testimonies. Glaspell became very impressed with the st... ...what his life was like behind closed doors. He could have been abusive and angry towards his wife causing her to snap. â€Å"She – come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself – real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and – fluttery. How – she – did – change† (1074). Mrs. Wright did change. She felt trapped in her marriage and she needed to escape. Her life was stolen from her. She strangled her husband and took his life. She probably felt that her life was already over and it wouldn’t matter if she were put in prison or not. Women might see things in a different light than men. They want to please the man in their life, but at the same time they want to be respected and seen as a human beings with feelings. Women today are stronger and more in charge and they don’t allow for a man to come into their life and destroy what they have built for themselves.

Treibacher Industrie

Treibacher Industrie, A. G. v Allegheny Technologies, Inc (2006) Facts: The case proceeded to a bench trial, where TDY and Treibacher disputed the meaning of the term â€Å"consignment†-the delivery term contained in both contracts. ? TDY introduced experts in the metal industry who testified that the term â€Å"consignment,† according to its common usage in the trade, meant that no sale occurred unless and until TDY actually used the TaC. Treibacher introduced evidence of the parties' prior dealings to show that the parties, in their course of dealings (extending over a seven-year period), understood the term â€Å"consignment† to mean that TDY had a binding obligation to pay for all of the TaC specified in each contract but that Treibacher would delay billing TDY for the materials until TDY had actually used them. TDY now appeals. ? TDY contends that, under the CISG, a contract term should be construed according to its customary usage in the industry unless the parties have expressly agreed to another usage. TDY argues, in the alternative, that the district court erred in finding that, in their course of dealings, Treibacher and TDY understood the term â€Å"consignment† to require TDY to use and pay for all of the TaC specified in each contract. ? Finally, TDY contends that, if we uphold the district court's ruling that TDY breached its contracts with Treibacher, we should remand the case for a new trial on damages on the ground that the district court erroneously found that Treibacher reasonably mitigated its damages. SUMMARY AND FINDINGSA) By analysis of the CISG, which governs the formation of and rights and obligations under contracts for the international sale of goods. ? CISG, arts. 1, 4. ?Article 9 of the CISG provides the rules for interpreting the terms of contracts. ? Article 9(1) states that, â€Å"parties are certain by any usage to which they have agreed and by any practices which they have established between themse lves. † ? Article 9(2) then states that, â€Å"parties are considered, unless otherwise agreed, to have impliedly made applicable to their contract which under international trade and well known? All parties to contracts of the type involved in the particular trade concerned. † ? Article 8 of the CISG governs the interpretation of the parties' statements and conduct. ? A party's statements and conduct are interpreted according to that party's actual intent â€Å"where the other party knew ? what that intent was,† CISG, art. 8(1), but, if the other party was unaware of that party's actual intent, then â€Å"according to the understanding that a reasonable person ? would have had in the same circumstances,† CISG, art. (2). ? To determine a party's actual intent, or a reasonable interpretation thereof, â€Å"due consideration is to be given to all relevant circumstances of the case including the negotiations, any practices which the parties have established between themselves, usages and any subsequent conduct of the parties. † ? CISG, art. 8(3). Which Treibacher’s materials in consignment store, published usage reports and invoices to support the order made. One of evidence to goods receive parties are known the action made.In arguing that TDY knowing the term's customary usage takes precedence over the parties' understanding of that term in their course of dealings, in which states that, â€Å"parties are considered, unless otherwise agreed, to have made applicable to their contract† customary trade usages.? In support of its argument, TDY can points it out anytime when they are question and revise the contract in between themselves. If not, intended the word â€Å"agreed,† in article 9, to mean express agreement, as opposed to silent agreement by course of conduct. ? B)?The district court did not commit clear error in finding that, in their course of dealings, TDY and Treibacher defined the term â€Å"con signment† to require TDY to accept and pay for all of the TaC specified in each contract. ? The parties do not dispute that they executed, between 1993 and 2000, a series of contracts in which Treibacher agreed to sell certain hard metal powders, such as TaC, to TDY. ? Which TDY has number of times to discuss the contract and terms, also whereby how Treibacher agreed to sell a fixed quantity of materials at a fixed price for delivery to â€Å"consignment. In additional, some of material needs to install upon TDY's request and all the logistic issue follow in between Treibacher and TDY such kept the materials it received from Treibacher in a â€Å"consignment store,† where the materials were labeled as being from Treibacher and segregated from other vendors' materials with all the usage report and record. ?In each instance, TDY ultimately withdrew and paid for the full quantity of materials specified in each contract.Obviously they had been communicated each other for t he order. In regards of damages claims, the district court did not commit clear error in finding that Treibacher reasonably mitigated its damages. ? The CISG requires a party claiming breach of contract to â€Å"take such measures as are reasonable in the circumstances to mitigate the loss. †, but it places the burden on the breaching party to â€Å"claim a reduction in the damages in the amount by which the loss should have been mitigated. † ?In sum, the district court properly determined that, under the CISG, the meaning the parties assign to a contractual term in their course of dealings establishes the meaning of that term in the face of a conflicting customary usage of the term. Which in the normal practices for order and the judgment of the district court is affirmed.? The district court was not clearly erroneous in finding that Treibacher and TDY understood their contracts to require TDY to purchase all of the TaC specified in each contract and that Treibacher t ook reasonable measures to mitigate its losses after TDY breached. ?

Acupuncture: An Alternative Essay

To support the life of an ailing individual and to relieve pain, the application of formal and conventional medical practice is not alone that can help. The application of complementary and alternative medicine may also relieve the patient of such sufferings. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), National Institutes of Health has defined complementary and alternative medicine as â€Å"a group of diverse health care and medical systems, practices and products that are not presently considered to be part of the conventional medicine† (House Select, 2006 p.10). There is a distinction between the complementary medicine alone and alternative medicine alone. Complementary medicine is applied jointly with the conventional medicine such as the use of aromatherapy in reducing the patient’s pain after undergoing a surgery while alternative medicine is applied as a substitute for conventional medicine such as the use of special diet to treat cancer instead of following the physician’s recommendation to undergo surgery or chemotherapy. The NCCAM classifies complementary and alternative medicine into five major categories. They areà § 1.Alternative Medical Systems that are built upon absolute systems of theory and practice that have often developed before and apart from the conventional medicine of the U.S.A. Some of these are homeopathy, hydropathy and naturopathy as well as the Chinese traditional medicine and Ayurveda. 2. Mind-Body Interventions that use a variety of procedures intended to enhance the mind’s capacity to affect bodily function and symptoms such as meditating, praying, mental healing, and therapies that use creative outlets like art, music, or dance. 3.Biologically Based Therapies that use substances found in nature like herbs, foods, and vitamins. These kinds of therapies include dietary supplements, herbal products, and the use of other so-called natural but non-scientifically proven methods like the use of shark cartilage to treat cancer. 4.Manipulative and Body-Based Methods which is based upon manipulation and/or movement of one or more parts of the body like massage and chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation. 5.Energy Therapies that include the use of energy fields. It is divided into two subcategories, the biofield therapies and the bioelectromagnetic-based therapies.   Biofield therapies are intended to affect energy fields that purportedly surround and penetrate the human body such as the application of pressure and/or manipulation of the body by placing the hands in, or through   these fields, i.e., qi gong, reiki, and therapeutic touch. On the other hand the bioelectromagnetic-based therapies entail the unconventional use of electromagnetic fields, such as pulsed fields, magnetic fields, or alternating-current or direct-current fields. According to NCCAM, Acupuncture is an â€Å"energy medicine involving putative energy fields†, or the biofields. (Energy Medicine, 2004) II. What is Acupuncture, Its Philosophies, Purpose, and Treatment Principles? â€Å"Acupuncture can alleviate prolonged pain, discomfort, and anxiety, and end severe dependence on a medical system so huge and impersonal that each patient feels like a forgotten cog in a machine.†Ã‚  (Cargill, 1994, p. 3) That is what Acupuncture can do according to Cargill. But what is it? NCCAM defines Acupuncture as â€Å"a family of procedures involving the stimulation of anatomical points on the body using a variety of techniques, the most common of which is the penetration in the skin with thin, solid, metallic needles that are either manipulated by the hands or by some electrical stimulation†. (An Introduction) The philosophical basis behind Acupuncture for traditional practitioners is the â€Å"qi† (Birch & Felt, 1999, p. 88) or the so called vital energy. Qi flows through the twelve major energy pathways called meridians, each of these is connected to specific internal organs of the body or organ systems and â€Å"three hundred sixty-five to two thousand acupoints† (Freeman & Lawlis, 2001, p. 311). This qi is blocked when there is imbalance of yin and yang, â€Å"two opposing and inseparable forces†(An Introduction), in the body thereby causing illnesses. Acupuncture can relieve the ailment by unblocking the qi through the insertion of needles at specific anatomic points in the body. Simply stated, the purpose of Acupuncture is to heal or therapeutic. Some healing results of acupuncture, according to research, include alleviation of low back pain, headache, pain from osteoarthritis, neck pain, musculoskeletal and myofascial pain, organic pain, and pain before and after surgery. It has also been used for the treatment of postoperative and chemotherapy-induced nausea, neurologic dysfunction, gynecologic and obstetric conditions, asthma, and substance abuse. With Acupuncture, illness or sickness is prevented while better health is restored. III. Brief Summary and Evolution of Acupuncture Acupuncture evolved from the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Earliest evidence regarding this practice can be found in the text, â€Å"The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic (Huang Di Nei Jing), a collection of 81 treatises compiled between 206 BC and 220 AD†Ã‚  (Freeman ; Lawlis, 2001, p. 316) However, Freeman and Lawlis further noted that â€Å"the oldest surviving classical text dedicated entirely to acupuncture was written sometime in 282 AD by Huang-Fu Mi† entitled, The Comprehensive Manual of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (Zhen Jiu Jia Yi Jing). This book contains the â€Å"combined classical concepts concerning the theories and teachings of acupuncture points, channels, and the cause of illness, diagnosis, and therapeutic needling†Ã‚  (Freeman ; Lawlis, 2001, p. 316) It was in 618 AD when the practice reached its peak in China with the foundation of the Imperial Medical College. During this period, the practice was spreading its influence over other Asian nations such as Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia. Acupuncture attained maximum refinements at the end of the sixteenth century. Although it was in 1971 when Acupuncture became popularly recognized in the United States of America (USA), awareness about this therapeutic practice has been introduced in the country long before this period. The first records and studies of the practice became known to the Americans in 1825 in the publication of Morand’s Memoir on Acupuncturation, a document translated from French by Franklin Bache. However, it was in 1971 when the New York Times correspondent James Reston note down his experience about Acupuncture describing how medical professionals in China utilized needles to alleviate his pain after he have undergone surgery. Currently, the NCCAM reported that in the USA Acupuncture is being â€Å"widely† practiced by thousands of   related medical practitioners such as physicians, dentists, acupuncturists, and other practitioners mainly for alleviation and avoidance of pain and for other health purposes. In fact it was reported that in 2002, the survey showed that 8.2 million of the American adults have made use of Acupuncture. IV. Hazards of the Practice and Its Licensing and Regulatory Requirements The NCCAM provides in its website that the use of Acupuncture has a relatively lower account in terms of health problems and complication despite the huge number of treated individuals in America. Generally the negative complications resulted from the use of inadequately sterilized needles causing serious undesirable effects, including infections and punctured organs. Moreover improper needle placement, patient movements, or a defective needle may cause to tenderness, discomfort, soreness and pain during treatment. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates acupuncture needles. These needles should be used by licensed practitioners only and need to be manufactured and labeled according to the required standards on   sterilization, nontoxic quality, and must be labeled for single use by qualified practitioners only. Public hearings held   on April 25, 2006 in Asheville, and on September 27, 2006 in New Bern in North Carolina have acknowledged issues regarding the following safety measures in alternative medical practice: a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Practitioners Training, Qualifications and Credentials of Acupuncturists b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Consumer Protection of patients c.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Insurance Coverage of patients for possible health problems and side effects d.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An Oversight- Regulatory Board to regulate and control the practice ensuring public safety. Finally, for public awareness the NCCAM Clearinghouse provides information on CAM and NCCAM, as well as publications and searches of Federal databases of medical and scientific texts in service to the American nation regarding alternative medicines. References An Introduction to Acupuncture. (2007). NCCAM Publication No.  D404, NCCAM, National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 15 May 2008 from http://nccam.nih.gov/health/acupuncture/ Birch, S. J., & Felt, R. L. (1999).  Understanding Acupuncture. New York: Churchill Livingstone. Retrieved May 15, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=100223449 Cargill, M. (1994).  Acupuncture: A Viable Medical Alternative. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. Retrieved May 15, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=81902256 Energy Medicine: An Overview. (2004). NCCAM Publication No.  D235, NCCAM, National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 15 May 2008 from http://nccam.nih.gov/health/backgrounds/energymed.htm Freeman, L. W., & Lawlis, G. F. (2001).  Mosby’s Complementary Alternative Medicine: A Research-Based Approach. St. Louis, MO: Mosby. Retrieved May 15, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o;d=100735773 House Select Study on Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Final Report to the House of Representatives 2007 North Carolina General Assembly. (2006). Retrieved 15 May 2008, from http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/documentsites/legislativepublications/Study%20Reports%20to%20the%202007%20NCGA/Complementary%20and%20Alternative%20Medicine.pdf