Data Mining in the Pharmaceutical Industry Essay Example

Data Mining in the Pharmaceutical Industry Essay Example Data Mining in the Pharmaceutical Industry Essay Data Mining in the Pharmaceutical Industry Essay A Look at Data Mining in the Pharmaceutical Industry Topics Covered: 1) What is Data Mining and why is it used? 2) How is Data Mining used in the Pharmaceutical Industry? 3) Recent debate in the legality of Data Mining and the Pharmaceutical Industry Pharmaceutical companies are taking advantage of the growing use of technology in the healthcare arena by using data to enhance their marketing efforts and increase the quality of research and development. The process of data mining allows companies to extract useful information from large sets of individual data. This process provides a knowledge that is vital to a pharmaceutical company’s competitive position and organizational decision-making. â€Å"Data Mining enables firms and organizations to make calculated decisions by assembling, accumulating, analyzing and accessing corporate data. It uses variety of tools like query and reporting tools, analytical processing tools, and Decision Support System (DSS) tools† (Rangan, 2007). 1) What is Data Mining and why is it used? Data mining is the practice of automatically searching large stores of data to discover patterns and trends that go beyond simple analysis. Data mining uses sophisticated mathematical algorithms to segment the data and evaluate the probability of future events. Data mining is also known as Knowledge Discovery in Data (KDD)† (Oracle, 2008). As stated, data mining is used to help find patterns and relationships stored within large sets of data, these patterns and relationships are then used to provide know ledge and value to the end user. The data can help prove and support earlier predictions usually based on statistics or aid in uncovering new information about products and customers. It is usually used by business intelligence organizations, and financial analysts, but is increasingly being used in the sciences to extract information from the enormous data sets generated by modern experimental and observational methods. Data mining is being increasingly used in business to help identify trends that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. There are several different opinions on the exact â€Å"steps† of data mining, but they all agree on these basics: planning, modeling and extracting information. Oracle defines 4 steps in the data mining process: 1) problem definition, 2) data gathering and preparation, 3) model building and evaluation, and 4) knowledge deployment. The first step of data mining is to understand the purpose, scope and requirements of the project . Once the project is specified from a business perspective, it can be formulated as a data mining problem and a preliminary implementation plan can be developed† (Oracle, 2008). The data gathering process takes a look at how well the data serves the purpose of the project. In this step many changes can be made to the attributes of the data so that they better serve the objective and requirements of the project. This process can play a large part in the value of the knowledge and information derived from the data. For example, you might transform a DATE_OF_BIRTH column to AGE; you might insert the average income in cases where the INCOME column is null† (Oracle, 2008). The third step of data mining is to build and evaluate the model. The model should be tested and evaluated to make sure that it will answer the question and stay within the requirements of the business objectives stated in the first phase of the process. The final phase includes knowledge deployment which is where actual information and realization comes from the data. Here is where the relationships and patterns are turned into something meaningful that meets the objective of the project. There are several techniques used for data mining, some of them have been used for decades prior to the information technology boom that has changed the system dramatically. According to (Alex Berson, 2000), these â€Å"classic† techniques include Statistics, Neighborhoods and Clustering while the â€Å"next generation† techniques include Trees, Networks and Rules. In the end the purpose of each of these techniques is to explore data (usually large amounts of data typically business or market related) in search of consistent patterns and/or systematic relationships between variables, and then to validate the findings by applying the detected patterns to new subsets of data† (StatSoft, 2011). As stated above, data mining is often used to solve business decision problems, â€Å"it provides ways to quantitatively measure what business users should already know qualitatively† (Linoff, 2004). A growing number of industries are using data mining to become more competitive in their market by primarily focusing on the customers; increasing their customer relationships and increasing customer acquisition. 2) How is Data Mining Used in the Pharmaceutical Industry? The pharmaceutical industry has copious uses for data mining which include increasing the efficiency of research and development, contributing to drug safety information and to increasing the effectiveness of their marketing efforts. Understanding that the benefit of data mining is allowing for the extraction of useful information from large sets of individual data, it is evident that the pharmaceutical industry has a need for this process. The abundance of diseases prevalent in the world, the multitude of drugs available for each disease, and the variety of patients that take the products, produces massive amounts of information available in the industry. Pharmaceutical companies have begun to use this data to benefit patient safety, physician knowledge and their own marketing efforts. Data mining can be used while companies are researching and testing new products. â€Å"Scientists run experiments to determine activity of potential drugs† (Rangan, 2007). They are able to use process that produce results and relationships much faster, they can quickly determine activity on â€Å"relevant genes or to find drug compounds that have desirable characteristics† (Rangan, 2007). â€Å"By relating the chemical structure of different compounds to their pharmacological activity, [data mining] can bringing a degree of predictability to drug screening procedures that, until now, have tended to be a bit hit and miss† (Results, 2009). That should help scientists and pharmaceutical companies identify more effective compounds to treat different diseases, allowing them to find drug leads in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost of current methods. † The earlier methods of experimentation was very time consuming and had to be done over and ov er again each time a new drug was being researched, none of the old information was every used to help with speedier development. Data mining allows the past research to be used when picking compounds as opposed to just randomly choosing and testing. As a drug gets further into the development and into the clinical trial stages, data mining can help predict which diseases and patients will benefit from the drug. Based on past information data mining will provide a correlation between the new molecules, disease states and patients. For example, Pfizer is â€Å"turning to sophisticated data mining techniques to help improve the design of new trials, to better understand possible new uses for existing drugs, and to help examine how drugs are being used after they have been approved† (Salamone). During trial phases they are able to â€Å"understand safety and efficacy profiles within the patient population by tackling the question of patient selection within the framework of demonstrating groups that are most responsive. Data mining framework enables specialists to create customized nodes that can be shared throughout the organization† (Rangan, 2007). Additionally, one of the greatest benefits of data mining in the pharmaceutical industry and the healthcare world is the discovery of adverse events and drug toxicity in patients. It could help determine the adverse reactions associated with a specific drug and still go a step further to show if any specific condition aggravates the adverse reaction for eg age, sex, and obesity (Novartis Business Intelligence report, 2004). Data mining is useful in almost every stage of drug discovery and can aid in toxicity detection, side effect profiles and can work to uncover responsiveness in certain patients. â€Å"The patterns that emerge from data mining this information will not only improve our understanding of this disease, but could give practitioners new insights into prevention and treatment. (Rangan, 2007). As addressed above, a limiting factor in past and current pharmaceutical data is the sheer amount of data and lack of information that exists in the industry. Knowledge and information is being slowed at even a physician and patient level, for example the FDA estimates that only 1% of serious adverse events are actually reported to the companies after they h appen because most practicing healthcare providers do not have the time or means to report the adverse events and have no need for the data at a later time. There is a strong need for data mining techniques within the pharmaceutical industry to understand and detect possible adverse events before they happen to patients. Outside of product research, development and safety, pharmaceutical organizations are using data mining techniques to increase their marketing efforts directly to the consumer as well as to the prescribing physician. They are able to see a better return on the investment of resources based on mining the prescription data released by pharmacies. As discussed earlier, many businesses are using data mining to increase their customer relationships nd encourage product growth. They are able to use the data to gather knowledge and information in order to create more effective and efficient sales strategies. â€Å"Data mining can be used to supplement the pharmaceutical companies marketing efforts by market segmentation, measuring return on investment (ROI) and understanding profitable managed care formulary status. â€Å"A p harmaceutical company can analyze its recent sales force activity and their results to improve targeting of high-value physicians and determine which marketing activities will have the greatest impact in the next few months. The data needs to include competitor market activity as well as information about the local health care systems. The results can be distributed to the sales force via a wide-area network that enables the representatives to review the recommendations from the perspective of the key attributes in the decision process. The ongoing, dynamic analysis of the data warehouse allows best practices from throughout the organization to be applied in specific sales situations. † (Alex Berson, 2000) Market segmentation allows for tailored messaging and information to be given to appropriate customers where their need is specifically met. Prescribing information allows the sales representatives to spend appropriate time and resources on customers that have the most need for individual products based on their patient population and historical prescribing trends. â€Å"Supplemented by survey data, patient and physician interviews, information gleaned from epidemiological studies and managed care organizations, questionnaires on web sites, and other market research, a quite detailed picture of a customer base can be identified, with marketing strategies devised accordingly† (Cohen). This is critical at the launch of a product, in order to determine the â€Å"early adopters† that will drive a product use and share their success with professional peers. A successful product launch to the right market segment can allow a product to surpass its competitors in the field. Especially in the era of â€Å"me-too† products with similar efficacy and slightly lower side effects than earlier competitors, the effectiveness of a product launch is vital to the career of the product. Identifying the early adopters and focusing tailored promotional efforts on this segment (as opposed to broadcasting a general message to all physicians) can be crucial to the success of the product† (Cohen). Measuring the ROI of certain programs and resources the organizations use, can help save time and money by making sure the resources are being put in the most favorable places to produce the most amount of business and patient satisfaction. Data mining allows pharmaceutical companies to get an idea of how their field promotions and direct to consumer promotion programs are driving business results. The promotional efforts of these organizations are tremendous and indlude field promotions: representative sales calls, peer-to-peer dinner meetings, exhibits at conventions, promotional samples, and direct to consumer advertising which include: commercials, websites, patient education materials the companies spend billions of dollars on the promotion of a single product. Data mining can help stream line the customers that are targeted for these promotional events and help make more accurate decisions on where to spend their resources so that they make sense for the physician, patient and the organization. The formulary status of a specific drug is very dependent on the location and area in question. The managed care market dynamics are very critical to effective targeting and marketing of pharmaceutical companies. Physicians are generally unaware of specific prescription coverage on certain health care plans, especially if a pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) is used in lieu of the actual healthcare benefits to manage prescriptions. For this reason it is important that each organization have the data to support the needs of the various customers and plans to help physicians overcome the obstacles they encounter while prescribing certain drugs to their specific environment. There are many facets of the pharmaceutical industry, including patient care and marketing that can widely benefit from utilizing decision support systems and data mining. The process is revolutionizing early drug discovery and increasing the speed and effectiveness that scientists have in uncovering new molecules to treat various disease states. It has a place in patient safety by providing early detection of drug-on-drug interactions, toxicity and adverse reactions. Finally it is widely used to supplement the marketing efforts in the field and increase the business acumen and accuracy of the promotional side of the industry. 3) Recent debate in the legality of Data Mining and the Pharmaceutical Industry In the past 10 years, the pharmaceutical industry has been scrutinized for various activities that have lawmakers on the watch and uncertain about the agenda these organizations have when promoting their products. With the blatant need for healthcare reform and a slow demise of the American healthcare industry this scrutiny of the pharmaceutical industry has steadily increased and the reputation of these organizations has increasingly plummeted. Within this scrutiny, authorities have begun to question the lawfulness of data mining and the use of prescription-drug records used in promotional efforts. Some argue that the data-mining is purely to grow market share for money-hungry companies and has little relation to the care or need of patients and physicians. As recently as 2011 the Supreme Court heard a case assessing the legality of prescription-drug records being used to promote pharmaceutical products. After a patient fills a prescription â€Å"pharmacies can sell the other information in those prescriptions to data-mining companies (they cannot sell patient identification information), who sift through all this information, spot trends and patterns, and then sell that to, as in this case, drug companies, who can then have their sales representatives do targeted marketing of brand-name drugs to doctors† (Coyle, 2011). Drug makers buy prescription records that reveal the prescribing practices of individual doctors from data mining companies and, based on the information, practice a type of marketing called detailing, in which sales representatives, who already know which doctors prescribe certain kinds of medications, pitch information about new drugs they think will be of interest to the doctor† (Lewis, 2011). The discrepancy existed in the State of Vermont where lawmakers made it unlawful to sell this information without the prescribing physicians consent, however this law was ruled unconstitutional in the lower federal appellate court, bringing the decision to the Supreme Court. The following is an excerpt from an interview done after the hearing. Vermonts purpose in enacting the law was to protect the privacy of the doctors information, to encourage prescription of generic drugs, which would help lower health costs in the state, and also to protect the public health, which it felt could be endangered by drug companies sales representatives presenting one-sided information to the doctors. Then, on the other side, you have the drug companies and other businesses concerned that if the court restricts access to this kind of information then, that they wont get the kind of information they say they need to make important business decisions, ot just marketing decisions, research decisions, ot her decisions that they think could be beneficial to consumers† (Coyle, 2011). The Supreme Court ended up over-ruling this decision based on the First Amendment right and gave pharmaceutical industries a big victory in their use of Data Mining. â€Å"The Supreme Court handed down a 6-3 majority decision and ruled that the law interfered with the pharmaceutical industrys First Amendment right to market its products (Lewis, 2011). † Despite the controversy, it is evident that there is a wealth of knowledge and information to be gained by the use of data mining in the pharmaceutical industry. It is a process that allows an organization to streamline the massive amounts of data and make educated research developments and business decisions based on the information. Alex Berson, S. S. (2000). Building Data Application for CRM. McGraw-Hill. Cohen, J. (n. d. ). Data Mining of Market Knowledge in the Pharmaceutical Industry. Data Mining of Market Knowledge in the Pharmaceutical Industry. Coyle, M. (2011, April 26). National Law Journal. (R. Suarez, Interviewer) Lewis, N. (2011, Januray 24). Drug Prescription Data Mining Cleared by the Supreme Court. Retrieved August 09, 2011, from Informtion Week: informationweek. com/news/healthcare/security-privacy/231000397 Linoff, G. (2004). Data Miners. Retrieved July 31, 2011, from Data Miners Inc. : data-miners. com/resources/SUGI29-Survival. pdf Oracle. (2008, May). Data Mining Concepts. Retrieved July 31, 2011, from Oracle: http://download. oracle. com/docs/cd/B28359_01/datamine. 111/b28129/process. htm Rangan, J. (2007). Applications of Data Mining Techniques in the Pharmaceutical Industry. Journal of Theoretical and Implied Information Technology, 7. Results, I. (2009, Feb 3). Data Mining Promises to Dig Up New Drugs. Retrieved August 9, 2011, from Science Daily: sciencedaily. com/releases/2009/02/090202140042. htm Salamone, S. (n. d. ). Pfizer Data Mining Focuses on Clinical Trials. Retrieved August 09, 2011, from Bio. It. Com: bio-itworld. com/newsitems/2006/february/02-23-06-news-pfizer StatSoft. (2011). Statsoft: Data Mining Techniques. Retrieved July 31, 2011, from Statsoft: statsoft. com/textbook/data-mining-techniques/#eda

8 most attractive universities for students and great destinations for tourists

8 most attractive universities for students and great destinations for tourists 8 Most Beautiful Places to Go to Graduate School Where to go to graduate school? If you are asking this question and reviewing opportunities where to go as a grad student, this article will give you plenty of ideas. We decided to discover most beautiful universities that do not only offer an interesting and useful study process but look amazing. The universities we are going to tell you about have an awesome look and provide students a wonderful surrounding area to enjoy free time from studying. Top most wonderful universities to graduate school 8. University of Colorado, Boulder The university is based at the Rocky Mountains and was built in 1876. The place has a dry and warm climate, which you will be able to enjoy by biking and hiking. You can definitely call this place green because of wonderful nature and historical buildings that surround the university. Boulder also has a local farmer’s market that runs from April to October and offers locals and students the freshest food. 7. Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA This lovely place with sunny days and awesome beaches is one of the favorite places for students and tourist who come here. A lot of people all over the world would live to set here and enjoy days by the blue water. Students who have a great opportunity to spend their college years here can swim, sunbathe, and surf all year round. 6. University of Washington, Seattle A beautiful place, however, with an oceanic climate and wet winters still deserves a place in the list of most attractive universities in the world. Here students have a lot of opportunities to develop culturally. The city is rich in music, arts, theaters, and museums. Also, the city is also famous for a delicious coffee. You will have a lot of space to walk around and enjoy unforgettable views. It is even hard to believe that some young people study here and walk those streets every day. 5. The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT Five national parks, world-famous Salt Lake, warm summers and cool winters attract not only young people to enter The University of Utah, but tourist to spend a vacation here. From every point of the city, you can enjoy a wonderful view of Oquirrh mountain ranges. 4. University of Texas, San Antonio If you want to combine studying with exciting leisure, this place is number one. The city has a subtropical climate and provides a spectacular nightlife. However, the city has historical roots, it offers a lot of contemporary entertainments. There are a lot of places to visit around the university, such as Japanese Tea Gardens and National Park. 3. University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI If you are attracted by rainforests and islands, then you must come here. This place is number one when it comes to outdoor activities, such as biking, surfing, and paddling. It is only 3 miles from the university to a famous Waikiki Beach where you can fully enjoy sunbathing, tasting delicious food, and having fun at night. 2. Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA The university and the campus are located along the coastline that provides a breathtaking view on the Pacific Ocean. The climate here suits pretty everyone. It is warm and dry, so students and visitors of the city can enjoy various activities. In 2007, The Pepperdine University campus was rated number one in the list of most beautiful campuses all over the globe. 1. Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH The campus of this university is called one of the most awesome not because of nature here but numerous opportunities for students. Once you come here, you will be able to take pleasure in hiking, biking, and snowmobiling. The university is located along the Connecticut River and the White Mountain National Forest which are the places you must see. A remarkable architecture from 19th century adds charm to this nice city. Maybe this information will help with writing a paper for your school or college, so do not be shy to use it and get a high grade!

Communication and Crisis Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Communication and Crisis Paper - Essay Example Further, it is important to communicate the crisis as it is – communicate the issue quickly and tell the truth, both to the public and within the emergency management office. By doing this, all will have been accomplished to minimize the effects of the situation (Ulmer, Sellnow, & Seeger, 2006). As the director of the Regional Emergency Management Office, he or she should ensure that communication within the organization takes the following channel. First, the head officials of the management office and the head of public relations should be contacted. As soon as these two heads and their respective offices have been contacted, the implementation of the plan can be started. After discussions between these different offices, communication of the crisis is then released to the other departments and staff so that they can prepare for the communication and deal with the crisis. Effective communication within the organization will involve the formation of a crisis communications te am, exploration of the crisis situation, developing a message and managing communications. Later, the course of communication and action is decided; the information is communicated to the sub-regional heads and the service directors of regional divisions. After the communication of the crisis situation has reached the regional divisions, teams will be formed among the concerned and non-concerned departments due to the need to address the crisis situation in the shortest time possible. Further, communication will be continued during and after the implementation of the mitigation of the emergency situation (Smith & Millar, 2002). The potential advantages associated with communicating the crisis situation within the organization and to the public and private secto

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Research Paper Example In 2007, Singapore was able to generate $9.4 billion USD in tourism revenue which makes up three percent of the country’s entire gross domestic product (Research and Markets 1). This growth in tourism is sparked by the development of the National Tourist Offices operated by the government, with a variety of strategic alliances with such companies as the airline Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines (Riege and Perry 1294). It was only recently that the government recognized that casino gaming could represent a significant marketing opportunity to boost more international interest in tourism. There has been significant social disparity occurring in Indonesia about the viability and economic benefits of casino gambling which has, until just recently, prevented development of casinos as part of a new tourism philosophy. In 2011, petitioners asked the Singaporean Constitutional Court to declare certain provisions and regulations to be held unconstitutional that had, previously, pro hibited gambling in any form in the country. At the same time, government has been attempting to elicit foreign investment from major hospitality companies to develop and launch casino gambling as a means of improving its competitive marketing position internationally. This conflict stems from concern over the many low-wage citizens in the country, believing that casino gambling would detract from their quality of living. However, despite these concerns, the government and the court systems have relaxed the many strict regulations prohibiting gaming in this fashion, thereby allowing development of the first casino gambling facility in 2012 in the city of Bintan. The only major player in the gaming operations in Singapore is Malaysia-based Landmarks Bhd., an investment holding company operating a diverse portfolio of hospitality businesses internationally. The Las Vegas Sands, one of Landmarks’ largest shareholders, has been integral in petitioning the Singaporean government t o allow development and relax regulatory pressures denying such construction. Upon development of the Landmarks’ gaming project, it is expected that total revenues stemming from gaming will increase 16 percent to $30.3 billion (Hin 2). The social impact of gaming in Singapore is substantial. There is evidence that low-income citizens in the country maintain social characteristics that will ultimately lead to gambling addictions. Some have even turned to criminal behaviors as a means of sustaining this addiction, which has concerned many Singaporean citizens (Global Voices 2). These social concerns have, and still continue to, conflict the process of rapid gaming development in this growing country with much more economic influence today than in previous years. As previously identified, there are conflicting laws associated with casino gambling in this country. The Constitution clearly prohibits gambling in any format in the country, however representatives of the government c ontinue to amend the Constitution and create new, regionally-based policies that seek to overturn these prohibitions. However, such amendments require intervention with voting citizens both regionally and nationally-wide, again conflicting the process of securing long-term contracts and agreements for casino development and other associated hospitality organizations devoted to promoting tourism and economic growth. The Singapore conflicts associated with disparate laws and regulations illustrates a marked difference from

Investigate the following hypothesises Essay Example for Free

Investigate the following hypothesises Essay Drop (d) in cm Frequency Cumulative Frequency 5 will now put the results from the cumulative frequency table into a cumulative frequency curve for males and females. From both cumulative frequency curves I can take an approximate median and inter-quartile range for both females and males. It tells me that the females have a smaller and lower inter-quartile range, of 4 (16 12=4) than the males whom have a wider and higher one of 7 (19 12= 7). This suggests that the male results in general were more varied than those of the females. It also suggests that the approximate median average for females was 14. Whereas the approximate median for males is 15. 5, which implies that the females have a lower reaction time on median average than males. However, there is only a slight difference. To show the inter-quartile ranges and the median more clearly I have put the information from the cumulative frequency graph into a box plot for each of males and females. These box plots define the varied results of the males and the closeness between the females results. I will now use histograms to show the continuous grouped data. . Drop (d) in cm Frequency width Frequency Frequency Density 5The standard deviation measures the spread of the data about the mean value. It can allow me to compare males and females, which may have the same mean but a different range. Gender Mean average Step 1From the results of the standard deviation I can distinguish that the distribution round the mean average of the female and male frequency was very low. The standard deviation suggests that the females results are generally more spread out round the mean rather than the males whom are not so spread out. This means that males generally have similar reaction times rather than females whom the results imply to have more varied results. Conclusion: From the data I collected I have found that males appear to have better reaction times than females, which seems to be linked closely to them having lower pulse rates. This suggests both my hypotheses to be correct and closely linked to one another. Although, on median average females have been implied to have a lower reaction time. However, the male and female median average are extremely similar so due to the males having a increasingly better mean average seem to generally have better pulse rates and reaction times. This proves that everyone has different reaction times, which can be altered by many different variables such as that as pulse rate. Evaluation: I could have tested reaction times in a many more ways and did not have to use just light as a stimuli for the reaction time. I could have used sound like the reaction time for someone to hear the sound of a gun at a beginning of a race and to react to that and start running. Also the subjects results could have been affected by anything from light and sound distractions to whether they had consumed a substance containing caffeine before they had taken part in the activity set for them. Some of these will not have been able to improve on but others such as where and when I had collected my data may have made possible for bias results to come up in my investigation. Whether the subjects were tired, focussed, motivated will have made a difference to their performance as well so external influences can play a big part in the alteration of results. Also if the participant had carried out this particular type of investigation before or if they trained specially to improve a reaction like those whom train for sprinting would have had a clear advantage than those whom had not carried out the experiment before. In my experiment I also found that an exact recording of how far the ruler actually dropped before it was caught hard and can be seen to have been rounded to the nearest centimetre, which will not have not given me very accurate results. Kirstie Anne Jackson Mathematics 2 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Patterns of Behaviour section.

Civil LIberties :: essays research papers

The terms are pretty much used synonymously, but I'll make the distinction that "civil liberties" means your conceptual rights and "civil rights" means your legal rights. In those terms, "civil liberties" are your personal rights as spelled out in the Constitution and other founding documents, such as the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, free speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, etc. "Civil rights" are the particulars of how those vague concepts are implemented in law. Under this definition, our civil liberties don't change (except when we amend the constitution) but our civil rights change regularly as new laws are made or new interpretations are ruled upon. Some examples of civil rights laws are: -- Affirmative action rulings, which require preferential hiring of under-represented minority and gender groups; -- The Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires that public places provide access for people with disabilities; -- Vermont's recent Civil Union statute, which allows homosexual couples to get married. None of those laws change the basics underlying civil liberty (the right to equal treatment is the basis of all of them), but they have a big effect on people's legal rights. The philosophical basis for most controversial civil rights law (like those above) is the idea that a "right" doesn't exist at all if it can't be enforced or exercised. Enforcing and exercising rights often means that other people are required to do things or pay for things, which is where the controversy comes in. For example, blacks had the "right" to equal treatment in job hiring before affirmative action, but had no means to enforce equal representation in the job place until Affirmative Action laws took effect. And disabled people had the "right" to go to any public place, but until the ADA took effect, they had no means of compelling business owners to build ramps for wheelchairs, for example.

The Concept of Bartering as Adapted by the Film In Time

The Concept of Bartering as Adapted by the Film In Time, and Its Implications. HAS 2013 Prices, Values, and Money Contents 1 Introduction of the characteristics of the genres thriller, action, and drama, making it fairly complex and capable of providing several different perspectives as well as various points of analysis, from the general plot to the greater cultural backgrounds. The film centers on the concept of time being utilized as the primary currency in a modernized world which is set a century ahead of the present.Due to intentional genetic engineering money is no longer available in the material form used in today's society, but has been replaced by time, which can be exchanged for other goods or forms of labor. The actual value of this new type of currency is undeniably not purely symbolic as is the case with today's form of money, but it is innately linked to the length of one's own lifetime. Precisely this linkage is what relates this financial concept to that of barterin g, and the adaptation of which will be the main topic – alongside with its societal implications – of this paper.Generally speaking the aim of this paper is to study a different conceptualization of exchange – regardless of its unrealistic possibility of enforceability – through an analysis of the concept of time being used as a substitute for money as presented in the film In Time, comparing it with the Aristotelian concept of bartering in an attempt to categorize and define the principles of this alternative form of exchange and its effect on the economy.Following this topic the paper will draw on Aristotle concept of liberality, which is also of importance within the film, inflation as such, and a short analysis of the social class system created by a fictional society run by time. These points should provide further understanding of today's system of exchange, hills enforcing a more creative and practical approach, ultimately highlighting negative and positive aspects of the current system. Time as Currency The film's concept of time runs as follows: from the age of 25 years onwards every individual is granted a lifetime of one further year, which begins to count down on their 25th birthday. From then on, the amount of time one has left to live depends on the acquisition of further time, or the expenditure which will inevitably thus ensue in Odder to purchase food and other necessary goods, such as clothes, housing, and electricity; time has become the universal currency.When a person's clock reaches O, that person dies immediately. The presence of sickness or other natural causes of death are not elaborated on within In Time. The currency of time as used in the film demands an exchange of a certain amount of time for other goods – and can even be exchanged for time itself at the bank in the form of a loan.Labor and services are paved for with time, and the wages allocated to different types of labor may be relationally c omparable to those used in today's society with regard to low-wage Jobs which require little to no education and gig-wage Jobs which usually require at least some sort of education and/or a certain degree of power, such as the Jobs of managers, professors, pilots, and doctors. Daily life and routines seem very much similar to today's system, with the exception of a higher death rate, however, even casinos and banks are shown in the film and seemingly fulfill the same function they do today.One's time status – which is comparable to the bank balance of today – is constantly on display in the individual scenes, making it easy for by-passers to inform themselves of one another's wealth, lest he or she should wear long sleeves or another type of clothing capable of hiding the numbers from view. For example, in the scene in which Will Salsa and Sylvia Weiss swim in the dark the watch presents the only source of light along with the lighting from the mansion, which in itself shares an innate connection with time through its immense worth (see figure 1).The only three obvious differences between the way time is used and the way money is used today lies in the following: firstly, the country has been manually divided into ‘time zones', the crossing of which itself costs time – travel today only raises costs in question of transportation. Secondly, the fact that time is constantly being spent by an individual – somewhat unintentionally – Just by being alive, whereas money on the other hand retains its value and can only be spent intentionally, and thirdly, that there seems to be no form of taxation or even individual fortune tracking.The government is, however, keen on surveillance, which becomes evident through the large amount of cameras which are situated seemingly everywhere, and through monitors which convey the proportional distribution of time – therefore wealth – throughout the United States; the main purpo se of this is to ensure that wealth continues to follow the geographical pattern which was dictated by the government, so that the very wealthy time zones continue to harbor the largest proportion of the country's wealth, while the poorer areas share very little wealth between them.The film focuses on two specific time zones: the very wealthy New Greenwich – home of the Weiss family, and the poorer Dayton – home of the Salsa family, which illustrates the extreme social discrepancies achieved through differences in wealth. Bartering The concept of bartering is constantly being revised and today means a form of exchange where a good or certain form of labor is exchanged for another good or certain form of labor, whereby both of the goods or the labor in question are separable from their possessors and carry palpable value – usually in terms of their use and quality – as in, for example, the exchange of berries for milk and vice versa; both of these goods ar e subject to intrinsic value, the primary one being the function of satiating and sustaining a human being.According to Aristotle, however, the concept of bartering carries a slightly different meaning. Firstly, Aristotle differentiates between types of property according to how hose are acquired, for example through hunting, or agricultural processes.These acquisitions demand time, which may be reduced by level of skill, therefore it is only logical that individuals should first and foremost pursue tasks for which they possess the required skills, basic required goods, or geographical advantages – for example a hunter living near a forest with a large quantity of game, or a wheat farmer with a sufficient amount of land available to him – and then exchange the in – excess acquired – good for a good which is more difficult or more important for the man in question to obtain.The value of each good is measured individually by each of the partners or group of individuals with the same interest partaking in the exchange, Shoes may be exchanged for a house, cattle for horses, eggs for wood, harvest labor for bread, and so on and so forth. Essentially the value of each good is constantly being revised, there is no one form of currency, money in today's form does not exist, a central market is not existent, and the government – should there be some sort of government present – has no impact on bartering as such. 4 Time as Currency in Association with BarteringAs mentioned above, the currency of time within the film In Time carries an intrinsic value – that of being capable of influencing the length of one's life. Money in the material form used today does not have as acute an influence on the length of one's life apart from its use in acquiring medicine or food from another human being, however, time too must pay for these goods nit the film. Following the traditional concept of bartering, man-made products or labor are exchanged for other man-made products or labor, however, time, as such, can be classed as neither f the two.Time is universally granted and – although man cannot alter time itself, he can – in this specific setting – gain more of it, or lose some or all of it, thereby ‘bartering' with his own life. At this point it may also be relevant to acknowledge the circumstance of time being an infinite concept in terms of gaining, and yet, it is certainly possible to be deprived of any time at all – by society, by oneself, or by the greater powers of the universe, leading to immediate death.The fact that time is, however, the only globally accepted currency – currency eyeing a theoretic opposition to the concept of bartering, is somewhat of a negation of the possibility of seeing this system as a form of bartering. In bartering the changeability of a good or of labor is subject to the interest another has in it, and whether or not the individual †“ or group of individuals – is capable of exchanging this for a good or for labor of their own which is of interest to the partner of exchange.In a typical bartering society there would be no primary or main good available for transfer, and certainly none by which value could be measured in any form, as time r the dollar can. Goods would be dependent on the separate circumstances of each individual, and their values would be subject to constant revisal. Currency as such is defined as being a system of money in general use in a particular country (Oxford English Dictionary, 2013).Aristotle intense occupation with the concept of slavery amongst men can, however, not be analyzed via the film, as slavery in its original form does not play a role, because modern human rights forbid inequality among mankind. The population of Dayton is indeed, to a certain extent, enslaved to the government, as he government regulates inflation and thereby death rates, and due to governmental â⠂¬Ëœtime keepers' – comparable to rope-men in contemporary societies – who are empowered to relieve individuals of time should they be accused of having acquired it without sufficient rights, or in case of other criminal allegations.Prisons are naturally impossible institutions in poorer societies run by time, as inmates would not be capable of earning enough time to keep themselves alive during their stay without further work, which instead leads them to inevitable death. Aristotle coins the term ‘liberality' in regard to money, describing a liberal man as one who is neither â€Å"acquisitive nor retentive of money, but is ready to part with it, and does not value it for himself, but only with a view to giving† (Aristotle. The Ethics of Aristotle. Trans. J. Thomson. England: Penguin Books, 1953. Print. ).In Time portrays protagonist Will Salsa as becoming somewhat of a liberal man. Toward the end of the film's development, he and Sylvia Weiss – dau ghter of one of the richest men in the world at the time – abide by the Robin Hood principle, which souses on the redistribution of wealth in order to reduce economic inequality. The most fascinating aspect here, is that the ‘wealth' in question is far more life-giving, than money in the standard form, which certainly buys food, however, the human being is capable of living for far longer without food than without ‘time' as portrayed in the film itself.Strictly speaking this means that an extreme form of liberality is achieved through the disregard Salsa and Weiss show in relation to the value of their own retention of time, and the selflessness they are capable of embodying, even at such high costs. The film's opening scene introduces Salsa as being confined state by – as is later revealed – the constant need to find more and more time in order to prolong his life, putting him in a metaphorical ongoing fight for life.The scene shows Salsa from a med ium close-up, standing behind a barred window and looking outside (see figure 2), before switching to a medium longest inside the room, which is almost completely dark save for the backlogging coming in through the window, again emphasizing the confinement Salsa must endure while wistfully looking out of the window in yearning for freedom (see figure 3). Freedom is, however, of course not available to Salsa. He is physically free to leave his apartment at any given time, but he will never be able to overcome the hold that the financial system has on him – at least not legally, but this he has yet to discover. Inflation The ability – and strongly pronounced desire – to acquire more and more time inevitably leads to higher life expectancies, and therefore also overpopulation. The government has come up with a solution to this problem: inflation. Through inflation individuals with little time on them are subject to a higher mortality risk, and this is owe the popul ation is regulated, so as to avoid an increase in societal problems, such as a heightened crime rate, lack of food, water, or medicine, sanitary issues, etc.The effects of inflation in poverty stricken areas are illustrated in one of the scenes at the very beginning, during which the mother of the protagonist dies on her way home because she does not have enough time available to her to pay for the inflated bus fares. It is, however, important to note that, although inflation takes place in the same way it does in today's society, the currency itself, I. E. Mime, is not affected by inflation as such: physically an hour of time remains the same amount of a person's lifetime, the only change in worth comes from the good being acquired by time, which then costs more.At the same time this circumstance underlines the lack of individualizing existent within the film, the effect of which is achieved by the apparent stereotypical disrespect which the lower classes are confronted with and de aths which occur on the streets of the poorer time zones, people being so used to seeing these corpses that they no longer pay heed to their presence and have mingle accepted the irrelevance of their lives in the social system.Inflation is not possible in standard bartering as conceptualized by Aristotle. A commodity's value is determined by its degree of desirability, and so in times of famine edible goods are naturally more highly valued than, for example, in times of good harvest. This point further distances the concept of time as currency from being a form of bartering as it is made clear that inflation of time prices is very much determined and arranged by the government as is perspective's needed, not as is natural. Influence on Social Class The lower classes tend to have little more than a few hours on their clocks, which means that affected individuals must move fast, are far more susceptible to crime due to the instinctive incessant need to survive, are prone to resorting to the vulgar sport of ‘fighting' each other for time in front of an audience, and are subject to more casualties than the higher classes with more time on them are.Social mobility is fairly limited, especially in the poorer time zones, as the search for more time plays an acute role in the search for a partner, however limited this time may be through he constant need to work more. Aristotle describes slaves as being strong enough to absolve the menial duties life presents mankind with, while the freemen are useless for physical labor, but useful for many other purposes of civic life.This can easily be related to the correlation between the upper and lower classes in the film, where the lower classes work in factories or on the streets doing manual labor and producing goods for the upper classes which they can hardly afford themselves, while the upper classes either busy themselves with tasks – if at all – which demand brain power of a stable financial Asia, all the while exploiting the lower classes. Sylvia view on the clock and time as the sole form of exchange available is as follows: â€Å"The clock does no one any good.The poor die and the rich don't really know how to live. We can live forever if we don't do anything stupid. Doesn't that scare you? † (In Time. Dir. Andrew Niccole. Twentieth Century Fox. 2012. Film. ) This describes two of the main issues with which society is presented: the fear and thus ensuing motivation of sudden death, as well as the lack of motivation one may encounter on owning a large amount of time, for there is then of course no longer a need to work ND yet these individuals have so much time that they no longer know how they may occupy themselves. Film Analysis In Time incorporates a combination of many different types of scenes, ranging from dark to light, hectic to slow, extreme close ups to extreme longest, all of which work together to help emphasize the extremity of using time as currency, as we ll as traumatizing and detailing its effects on society.As mentioned above, the clock displayed on the forearm of each and every individual within the movie is often used keeping the audience's perspective constant and attentive to the ‘bigger picture', which the film conveys, as is the case in the swimming scene with Salsa and Well, where the viewer is reminded not to lose himself in the comparatively rather banal romantics, but to stay alert and capable of interpretation on a larger level. The lack of individualism in this type of society is also illustrated.From the first scene onwards – in which Salsa is shown looking outside through the bars of a window – the clammy and fearful atmosphere driven by survival instinct alone without any visually explained causes is constantly reinforced, for example in the scene in which Will Salsa' mother dies in the middle of an empty road from no hysterical cause, or the moment in which the man who gives Salsa over a hundred years simply seems to fall off a bridge filmed from an extreme longest, making the viewer feel all the more helpless and emotionally affected. Conclusion Time is not merely a medium of exchange in the way money is, it is a good or service, which can be directly exchanged for other goods. Therefore, it is essentially distantly related to Aristotle concept of bartering, consequentially combining the traditional concept of exchange with the less modern and, in today's society, rarely enforced concept of bartering.However, one distinct difference lies in the fact that the society Aristotle focused on was to force individuals to be responsible for acquiring their goods individually, whereas in the modern society presented by the film organized work and an advanced market are the predominant themes in which individuals are far from producing their own goods directly. The use of time as the only legally recognized currency ultimately intertwines the length of one's life with the material quality of life itself – what can man physically acquire and how much of it?This adds the component of natural survival instinct to the motivation for finding and keeping work, and has the distinct effect of eliminating unemployment in cases of poverty. The effect this has on crime rates is most likely ambiguous, as the sanctions which a criminal would face are almost certainly life threatening, and yet, if one's life is in danger due to lack of time, he or she is far more likely to commit an illegal act in order to acquire more time than otherwise.These points make this financial system far more interesting on a societal level than anthropometry systems, as society's thinking is deeply affected by a more acute occupation with life itself and the inevitable death, the proximity of which is by far more dependent on one's way of life – how much time is spent working, where and as what, with whom one chooses to spend time, etc.Status seems to play a rather large role in t he upper classes, even more so than in today's society, as it seems that lack of status is greeted with disrespect, as is demonstrated by the waitress at the hotel in which Will Salsa has breakfast, by her comment on the speed at which he moves. Naturally, if one has a very large amount of time there is less of a need to move fast – quite on the contrary, moving slowly is somewhat of a prerequisite to avoid having too little to do with so much time.An analysis of this concept allows for the realization that the current financial concept of money can be comparatively seen as lacking in certain fields. Firstly, the to the fact that the motivation to work is not as high as it is in the film – sanctions would be needed in order to increase the motivation. Secondly, the film highlights the extreme differences in between different social classes, which promotes inequality where it should not – a reevaluation of proportional taxation a integrated living areas could pro vide possible improvements.Thirdly, liberality is naturally a more common phenomenon in the current society than in the film's society, as there is less at stake, and inflation is mainly influenced by governmental regulations and has far less to do with the availability of a good or service. Through the replacement of money with time a new form of financial system is introduced, which is loosely related to the concept of bartering.