Guava fruit Essay Example

Guava fruit Essay The intestinal digestive enzymes alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase are plays a vital role in the carbohydrate digestion. One antidiabetic therapeutic approach reduces the post prandial glucose level in blood by the inhibition of alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase enzymes. These can be an important strategy in management of blood glucose. The aim of the present study was to investigate the phytochemical bioactive compounds of the methanolic extract of Psidium guajava leaves, its in vitro anti-diabetic activity.The assay results suggests that the presence of bioactive compounds, could be responsible for the versatile medicinal properties of this plant including diabetes, the extract exhibit the dose-dependent increase in inhibitory effect on alpha-glucosidase enzyme (upto 89. 4%), and alpha-amylase enzyme (upto 96. 3%). The current study proves that the antidiabetic activity of methanolic extract of Psidium guajava leaves by in vitro studies. * Keywords Psidium guajava; Phytochemica l; alphaglucosidase; alpha-amylase Introduction Diabetes mellitus is a complex and a diverse group of disorders that disturbs he metabolism of carbohydrate, fat and protein. The number of diabetes mellitus cases has been increasing worldwide in recent years. In 2000, the world health organization estimated a total of 171 million of people with diabetes mellitus from the global population, and this report projected to increase to 366 million by 2030 (Wild et al. , 2004). With a long course and serious complications often resulting in high deathrate, the treatment of diabetes spent vast amount of resources including medicines, diets, physical training and so on in all countries.Thus searching for a new class of compounds is essential to overcome diabetic problems. There is continuous search for alternative drugs (Syamsudin, 2010). 15 Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. App. Sci (2013) 2(2):15-19 Psidium guajava Linn. (Myrtaceae) is commonly known as Peru or Guava in English. The Psidium guajava leaves are used in the treatment of diarrhoea, cough, stomachache, dysentery and decoction of the leaves for cholera patients, toothache and gum boils. The leaves showed hypoglycemic, cardioprotective, myocardial depressant, antimicrobial, antispasmodic actions (Ross, 1999).Inhibition of alphaamylase and alpha-glucosidase enzymes can be an important strategy in management of post prandial blood glucose level in type 2 diabetes patient (Ali et al. , 2006). Thus, objective of the present study is to investigate the phyto chemical, invitro antidiabetic activity of methanolic extract of Psidium guajava leaves. reducing sugar, tannins, flavonoids, steroids and alkaloids by using standard phytochemical procedures (Evans, W. C and Evans, T. 2003). In vitro methods employed in antidiabetic studies Inhibition of alpha-amylase enzyme A starch solution (0. 1% w/v) was obtained by stirring 0. g of potato starch in 100 ml of 16 mM of sodium acetate buffer. The enzyme solution was prepared by mix ing 27. 5 mg of alpha-amylase in 100 ml of distilled water. The colorimetric reagent is prepared by mixing sodium potassium tartarate solution and 3, 5 di nitro salicylic acid solution 96 mM. Both control and plant extracts were added with starch solution and left to react with alpha- amylase solution under alkaline conditions at 25? C. The reaction was measured over 3 minutes. The generation of maltose was quantified by the reduction of 3, 5 dinitro salicylic acid to 3amino-5- nitro salicylic acid.This reaction is detectable at 540 nm (Malik and Singh, 1980). Materials and Methods Plant material and extraction The fresh leaves of Psidium guajava were collected locally and authenticated by the department of Botany, St. Joseph College, Trichy. The shade dried Psidium guajava leaves were powdered mechanically and stored in an air tight container. The extraction was carried out by hot percolation method using Soxhlet apparatus. The solvent used was methanol. About 100 gm of powder was extracted with 600 ml of methanol. The extract was concentrated to dryness under controlled temperature 4050Â °C.The percentage yield was found to be 10. 15%. The extract was preserved in refrigerator till further use. Phytochemical Screening For preliminary phytochemical analysis the freshly prepared crude methanolic extracts of leaves were tested for the presence or absence of phytoconstituents such as 16 Inhibition of alpha-glucosidase enzyme The inhibitory activity was determined by incubating a solution of starch substrate (2 % w/v maltose or sucrose) 1 ml with 0. 2 M Tris buffer pH 8. 0 and various concentration of plant extract for 5 min at 37Â °C.The reaction was initiated by adding 1 ml of alpha-glucosidase enzyme (1U/ml) to it followed by incubation for 40 min at 35Â °C. Then the reaction was terminated by the addition of 2 ml of 6N HCl. Then the intensity of the colour was measured at 540nm (Krishnaveni et al. , 1984). Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. App. Sci (2013) 2(2):15-1 9 Calculation of 50% Inhibitory Concentration (IC50) The concentration of the plant extracts required to scavenge 50% of the radicals (IC50) was calculated by using the percentage scavenging activities at five different concentrations of the extract.Percentage inhibition (I %) was calculated by I % = (Ac-As)/Ac X 100, (Shai et al. , 2010). where Ac is the absorbance of the control and As is the absorbance of the sample. Table 1 Phytochemical analysis of methanolic extract of Psidium guajava leaves S. No. Phytochemical Constituents Name of the Test Mayer s test Dragondraff test Wagner Test Molish Test Fehling Test Benedicts Test Lead Acetate Ferric chloride. Ammonia Salkowaski H2So4 Liebermann s Burchard Test H2So4 Ammonia Shinoda s Test Ferric chloride Sodium chloride Borntrager s test Methanolic Extract + + + + + + + Condensed Tannin + + + + + _ Alkaloids 2 3 4 5 6 Carbohydrates Tannins Pseudo tannins Chlorogenic acid Steroidal Glycosides Anthocyanin Steroidal Glycosides Saponins g lycosides Flavonoids Flavones Phenols Coumarin Phytochemical constituents Results The preliminary phytochemical screening tests for the methanol extract of Psidium guajava leaves (Table 1) revealed the presence of carbohydrates, alkaloids, flavones, tannins, steroidal glycosides, phenols and coumarin. Any of these secondary metabolites, singly or in combination with others could be responsible for the anti-diabetic activity of the plant.There was a dose-dependent increase in percentage inhibitory activity against alphaamylase enzyme. At a concentration of 0. 2 ml of plant extract showed a percentage inhibition 27. 8% and for 1. 0 ml plant extract showed inhibition of 96. 3% (Table 2). The Psidium guajava methanol extract revealed a significant inhibitory action of alpha-glucosidase enzyme. The percentage inhibition at 0. 2-1. 0 ml concentrations of Psidium guajava extract showed a dose dependent increase in percentage inhibition. The percentage inhibition varied from 89. 4% 31. 7% for highest concentration to the lowest oncentration (Table 3). 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 +++= High; + = Present; ++ = Moderate; = Absent Table. 2 In vitro antidiabetic activity of alpha-amylase method S. No 1 2 3 4 5 Concentration of Sample (ml) 0. 2 0. 4 0. 6 0. 8 1. 0 % of Inhibition 27. 8 48. 9 62. 5 87. 2 96. 3 17 Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. App. Sci (2013) 2(2):15-19 Table 3 In vitro antidiabetic activity of alpha glucosidase method S. No 1 2 3 4 5 Concentration of Sample (ml) 0. 2 0. 4 0. 6 0. 8 1. 0 % Of Inhibition 31. 7 53. 9 68. 2 76. 5 89. 4 Discussion Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder with increasing incidence throughout the world.Insulin is a key player in the control of glucose homeostasis. Lack of insulin affects carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism (Rajiv Gandhi and Sasikumar, 2012). Management of diabetes without side effects is still challenge to the medical community. It was proposed that inhibition of the activity of such alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase would delay the degradation of carbohydrate, which would in turn cause a decrease in the absorption of glucose, as a result the reduction of postprandial blood glucose level elevation (Rhabaso Lhoret and Chiasson, 2004).In the present study, research has been carried out to evaluate the preliminary phytochemical investigation and the potential of methanol extract of Psidium guajava leaf in inhibiting alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase. The present finding of Phytochemical screening of the plant extract confirmed the presence of several bioactive compounds like alkaloids, flavones, tannins and phenols which could be responsible for the versatile medicinal properties of this plant. The present finding reveals that Psidium guajava efficiently inhibits both alpha18 mylase and alpha-glucosidase enzymes in vitro in a dose dependent manner. The aqueous extracts from Syzygium cumini seeds and Psidium guajava leaves both showed a dose dependent inhibitory effect on alpha-amylase activity (K arthic et al. , 2008). The antidiabetic action of Psidium guajava can also be attributed to the intestinal alpha-amylase and alphaglucosidase inhibitory activity. Further studies are required to elucidate whether Psidium guajava have antidiabetic potential by in vivo for validating the traditional claim of the plant.In this present study we evaluated in vitro alpha amylase and alpha glucosidase activity of crude methanol extract of Psidium guajava leaves. The plant showed significant inhibition activity, so further the compound isolation, purification and characterization which is responsible for inhibiting activity, has to be done for the usage of antidiabetic agent. Acknowledgement The authors are grateful to Dr. P. Selvaraj, Chairman, Shivani Group of Institutions, Trichy, whose spacious heart cheered our efforts to process this venture properly, successfully to complete the task.Also we extend our thanks to The Secretary, The Principal and The Staff members of the SSK Polytechni c College, Trichy, Tamilnadu, India. References Ali, H. , P. J. Houghton, and Soumyanath, A. 2006. J. Ethnopharmacol. 107: 449-455. Evans, W. C. , and Evans, T. 2003. Pharmacognosy, 5th Edn. , Cambridge University Press, London, 336-93. Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. App. Sci (2013) 2(2):15-19 Karthic, K. , K. S. Kirthiram, S. Sadasivam, and Thayumanavan, B. 2008. Identification of amylase inhibitors from Syzygium cumini Linn seeds. Indian J. Exp. Biol. 6:677- 680. Krishnaveni,S. , B.Theymoli, and Sadasivam,S. 1984. Food Chem. 15: 229. Malik,C. P. , and Singh, M. B. 1980. Plant Enzymology and Histoenzymology, Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi, p. 278. Rajiv Gandhi, G. , and Sasikumar, P. 2012. Antidiabetic effect of Merremia emarginata Burm. F. in Streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Asian. Paci. J. Tropi. Biomedicine. 2: 281-286. Rhabaso Lhoret, R. , and Chiasson, J. L. , 2004. Glucosidase inhibitors. In: Defronzo R. A, Ferrannini E, Keen H, Zimmet P. (Eds. ), International Textbook of Di abetes Mellitus, Vol. 1, third ed. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. , UK, pp. 901-914. Ross, I. A. 1999. Medicinal Plants of the World, Chemical constituents, traditional and modern medicinal uses. Human Press Inc. , Totowa, NJ. 263-272. Shai, L. J. , P. Masoko, M. PMokgotho, S. R. Magano, M. A. Mogale, N. Boaduo, and Eloff, J. N. 2010. South African J. Bot. 76: 465 470. Syamsudin,S. , 2010. Standardization of extract of Leucaena leucocephala (lmk) De Wit seeds by -glucosidase inhibitor. Int. J. Phytomedicine. 2. 430-435. Wild, S. , G. Roglic, A. Green, R. Sicree, and King, H. 2004. Global prevalence of Diabetes estimates for the year 2000 and projections for 2030. Diabetes care. 27:1047-1053. 19 Guava fruit Essay Example Guava fruit Essay The intestinal digestive enzymes alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase are plays a vital role in the carbohydrate digestion. One antidiabetic therapeutic approach reduces the post prandial glucose level in blood by the inhibition of alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase enzymes. These can be an important strategy in management of blood glucose. The aim of the present study was to investigate the phytochemical bioactive compounds of the methanolic extract of Psidium guajava leaves, its in vitro anti-diabetic activity.The assay results suggests that the presence of bioactive compounds, could be responsible for the versatile medicinal properties of this plant including diabetes, the extract exhibit the dose-dependent increase in inhibitory effect on alpha-glucosidase enzyme (upto 89. 4%), and alpha-amylase enzyme (upto 96. 3%). The current study proves that the antidiabetic activity of methanolic extract of Psidium guajava leaves by in vitro studies. * Keywords Psidium guajava; Phytochemica l; alphaglucosidase; alpha-amylase Introduction Diabetes mellitus is a complex and a diverse group of disorders that disturbs he metabolism of carbohydrate, fat and protein. The number of diabetes mellitus cases has been increasing worldwide in recent years. In 2000, the world health organization estimated a total of 171 million of people with diabetes mellitus from the global population, and this report projected to increase to 366 million by 2030 (Wild et al. , 2004). With a long course and serious complications often resulting in high deathrate, the treatment of diabetes spent vast amount of resources including medicines, diets, physical training and so on in all countries.Thus searching for a new class of compounds is essential to overcome diabetic problems. There is continuous search for alternative drugs (Syamsudin, 2010). 15 Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. App. Sci (2013) 2(2):15-19 Psidium guajava Linn. (Myrtaceae) is commonly known as Peru or Guava in English. The Psidium guajava leaves are used in the treatment of diarrhoea, cough, stomachache, dysentery and decoction of the leaves for cholera patients, toothache and gum boils. The leaves showed hypoglycemic, cardioprotective, myocardial depressant, antimicrobial, antispasmodic actions (Ross, 1999).Inhibition of alphaamylase and alpha-glucosidase enzymes can be an important strategy in management of post prandial blood glucose level in type 2 diabetes patient (Ali et al. , 2006). Thus, objective of the present study is to investigate the phyto chemical, invitro antidiabetic activity of methanolic extract of Psidium guajava leaves. reducing sugar, tannins, flavonoids, steroids and alkaloids by using standard phytochemical procedures (Evans, W. C and Evans, T. 2003). In vitro methods employed in antidiabetic studies Inhibition of alpha-amylase enzyme A starch solution (0. 1% w/v) was obtained by stirring 0. g of potato starch in 100 ml of 16 mM of sodium acetate buffer. The enzyme solution was prepared by mix ing 27. 5 mg of alpha-amylase in 100 ml of distilled water. The colorimetric reagent is prepared by mixing sodium potassium tartarate solution and 3, 5 di nitro salicylic acid solution 96 mM. Both control and plant extracts were added with starch solution and left to react with alpha- amylase solution under alkaline conditions at 25? C. The reaction was measured over 3 minutes. The generation of maltose was quantified by the reduction of 3, 5 dinitro salicylic acid to 3amino-5- nitro salicylic acid.This reaction is detectable at 540 nm (Malik and Singh, 1980). Materials and Methods Plant material and extraction The fresh leaves of Psidium guajava were collected locally and authenticated by the department of Botany, St. Joseph College, Trichy. The shade dried Psidium guajava leaves were powdered mechanically and stored in an air tight container. The extraction was carried out by hot percolation method using Soxhlet apparatus. The solvent used was methanol. About 100 gm of powder was extracted with 600 ml of methanol. The extract was concentrated to dryness under controlled temperature 4050Â °C.The percentage yield was found to be 10. 15%. The extract was preserved in refrigerator till further use. Phytochemical Screening For preliminary phytochemical analysis the freshly prepared crude methanolic extracts of leaves were tested for the presence or absence of phytoconstituents such as 16 Inhibition of alpha-glucosidase enzyme The inhibitory activity was determined by incubating a solution of starch substrate (2 % w/v maltose or sucrose) 1 ml with 0. 2 M Tris buffer pH 8. 0 and various concentration of plant extract for 5 min at 37Â °C.The reaction was initiated by adding 1 ml of alpha-glucosidase enzyme (1U/ml) to it followed by incubation for 40 min at 35Â °C. Then the reaction was terminated by the addition of 2 ml of 6N HCl. Then the intensity of the colour was measured at 540nm (Krishnaveni et al. , 1984). Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. App. Sci (2013) 2(2):15-1 9 Calculation of 50% Inhibitory Concentration (IC50) The concentration of the plant extracts required to scavenge 50% of the radicals (IC50) was calculated by using the percentage scavenging activities at five different concentrations of the extract.Percentage inhibition (I %) was calculated by I % = (Ac-As)/Ac X 100, (Shai et al. , 2010). where Ac is the absorbance of the control and As is the absorbance of the sample. Table 1 Phytochemical analysis of methanolic extract of Psidium guajava leaves S. No. Phytochemical Constituents Name of the Test Mayer s test Dragondraff test Wagner Test Molish Test Fehling Test Benedicts Test Lead Acetate Ferric chloride. Ammonia Salkowaski H2So4 Liebermann s Burchard Test H2So4 Ammonia Shinoda s Test Ferric chloride Sodium chloride Borntrager s test Methanolic Extract + + + + + + + Condensed Tannin + + + + + _ Alkaloids 2 3 4 5 6 Carbohydrates Tannins Pseudo tannins Chlorogenic acid Steroidal Glycosides Anthocyanin Steroidal Glycosides Saponins g lycosides Flavonoids Flavones Phenols Coumarin Phytochemical constituents Results The preliminary phytochemical screening tests for the methanol extract of Psidium guajava leaves (Table 1) revealed the presence of carbohydrates, alkaloids, flavones, tannins, steroidal glycosides, phenols and coumarin. Any of these secondary metabolites, singly or in combination with others could be responsible for the anti-diabetic activity of the plant.There was a dose-dependent increase in percentage inhibitory activity against alphaamylase enzyme. At a concentration of 0. 2 ml of plant extract showed a percentage inhibition 27. 8% and for 1. 0 ml plant extract showed inhibition of 96. 3% (Table 2). The Psidium guajava methanol extract revealed a significant inhibitory action of alpha-glucosidase enzyme. The percentage inhibition at 0. 2-1. 0 ml concentrations of Psidium guajava extract showed a dose dependent increase in percentage inhibition. The percentage inhibition varied from 89. 4% 31. 7% for highest concentration to the lowest oncentration (Table 3). 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 +++= High; + = Present; ++ = Moderate; = Absent Table. 2 In vitro antidiabetic activity of alpha-amylase method S. No 1 2 3 4 5 Concentration of Sample (ml) 0. 2 0. 4 0. 6 0. 8 1. 0 % of Inhibition 27. 8 48. 9 62. 5 87. 2 96. 3 17 Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. App. Sci (2013) 2(2):15-19 Table 3 In vitro antidiabetic activity of alpha glucosidase method S. No 1 2 3 4 5 Concentration of Sample (ml) 0. 2 0. 4 0. 6 0. 8 1. 0 % Of Inhibition 31. 7 53. 9 68. 2 76. 5 89. 4 Discussion Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder with increasing incidence throughout the world.Insulin is a key player in the control of glucose homeostasis. Lack of insulin affects carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism (Rajiv Gandhi and Sasikumar, 2012). Management of diabetes without side effects is still challenge to the medical community. It was proposed that inhibition of the activity of such alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase would delay the degradation of carbohydrate, which would in turn cause a decrease in the absorption of glucose, as a result the reduction of postprandial blood glucose level elevation (Rhabaso Lhoret and Chiasson, 2004).In the present study, research has been carried out to evaluate the preliminary phytochemical investigation and the potential of methanol extract of Psidium guajava leaf in inhibiting alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase. The present finding of Phytochemical screening of the plant extract confirmed the presence of several bioactive compounds like alkaloids, flavones, tannins and phenols which could be responsible for the versatile medicinal properties of this plant. The present finding reveals that Psidium guajava efficiently inhibits both alpha18 mylase and alpha-glucosidase enzymes in vitro in a dose dependent manner. The aqueous extracts from Syzygium cumini seeds and Psidium guajava leaves both showed a dose dependent inhibitory effect on alpha-amylase activity (K arthic et al. , 2008). The antidiabetic action of Psidium guajava can also be attributed to the intestinal alpha-amylase and alphaglucosidase inhibitory activity. Further studies are required to elucidate whether Psidium guajava have antidiabetic potential by in vivo for validating the traditional claim of the plant.In this present study we evaluated in vitro alpha amylase and alpha glucosidase activity of crude methanol extract of Psidium guajava leaves. The plant showed significant inhibition activity, so further the compound isolation, purification and characterization which is responsible for inhibiting activity, has to be done for the usage of antidiabetic agent. Acknowledgement The authors are grateful to Dr. P. Selvaraj, Chairman, Shivani Group of Institutions, Trichy, whose spacious heart cheered our efforts to process this venture properly, successfully to complete the task.Also we extend our thanks to The Secretary, The Principal and The Staff members of the SSK Polytechni c College, Trichy, Tamilnadu, India. References Ali, H. , P. J. Houghton, and Soumyanath, A. 2006. J. Ethnopharmacol. 107: 449-455. Evans, W. C. , and Evans, T. 2003. Pharmacognosy, 5th Edn. , Cambridge University Press, London, 336-93. Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. App. Sci (2013) 2(2):15-19 Karthic, K. , K. S. Kirthiram, S. Sadasivam, and Thayumanavan, B. 2008. Identification of amylase inhibitors from Syzygium cumini Linn seeds. Indian J. Exp. Biol. 6:677- 680. Krishnaveni,S. , B.Theymoli, and Sadasivam,S. 1984. Food Chem. 15: 229. Malik,C. P. , and Singh, M. B. 1980. Plant Enzymology and Histoenzymology, Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi, p. 278. Rajiv Gandhi, G. , and Sasikumar, P. 2012. Antidiabetic effect of Merremia emarginata Burm. F. in Streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Asian. Paci. J. Tropi. Biomedicine. 2: 281-286. Rhabaso Lhoret, R. , and Chiasson, J. L. , 2004. Glucosidase inhibitors. In: Defronzo R. A, Ferrannini E, Keen H, Zimmet P. (Eds. ), International Textbook of Di abetes Mellitus, Vol. 1, third ed. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. , UK, pp. 901-914. Ross, I. A. 1999. Medicinal Plants of the World, Chemical constituents, traditional and modern medicinal uses. Human Press Inc. , Totowa, NJ. 263-272. Shai, L. J. , P. Masoko, M. PMokgotho, S. R. Magano, M. A. Mogale, N. Boaduo, and Eloff, J. N. 2010. South African J. Bot. 76: 465 470. Syamsudin,S. , 2010. Standardization of extract of Leucaena leucocephala (lmk) De Wit seeds by -glucosidase inhibitor. Int. J. Phytomedicine. 2. 430-435. Wild, S. , G. Roglic, A. Green, R. Sicree, and King, H. 2004. Global prevalence of Diabetes estimates for the year 2000 and projections for 2030. Diabetes care. 27:1047-1053. 19

Confidentiality in Counseling

Confidentiality in Counseling Counseling describes a method of relating and responding to other individuals with the aim of providing them with an opportunity to explore, discover, and clarify ways of living more satisfyingly and resourcefully (Bond, 2000). It depends on the context in which the word is used to derive the actual meaning. Generally, counseling is a service provided by a trained professional and it is a process that involves a series of steps.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Confidentiality in Counseling specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These include identifying the problem that needs to be addressed-such problems could be from the client who needs counseling help, consider the outcome of the decision (to the client and the entire society) understanding the client, assessing ones potential competence (skills that are required to solve the current problem), consideration of ethical standards in relation to the situation. In counseli ng, information shared includes one’s body, mind and thoughts, beliefs, feelings and fantasies (Burnard, 2005) Confidentiality refers to the ethical principle of not revealing information known to a given party to unauthorized parties. This principle ensures secrecy among two or more parties who share information to them. In addition, confidentiality restricts giving information to third parties. Counseling involves so much classified information being revealed by the client. For instance, it may involve confessions and revelations of past and current situations of darkest and very sensitive high profile information of crimes, plans that are underway to achieve a given objective, secrets that could lead to arrests and prosecution by law and other forms of confidential information that should not be allowed to reach a third party. Counseling takes on different forms depending on the situation, such as traumatic experience that has occurred in ones life, or information required on medical, career, legal, spiritual, and emotional situations that have affected a client either short or long-term. In either situation, the information shared between the client and the professional counselor should be kept and treated with the privacy and confidentiality that is deserved with regard to conformity to legal standards that describe confidentiality (Feltham and Dryden, 2006). Both confidentiality and privacy are integrally related. Privacy allows individuals to limit access to information about themselves whereas confidentiality allows individuals to control access of the information they have shared, hence enabling the development of client trust with the counselor (McLeod, 2004).Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Different groups Counseling involves a variety of different age groups; matters that affects these groups and most of the groups that seek counse ling services tend to assume that whatever they are divulging to their counselor, will be kept confidential for children and adolescents, there are many critical issues that face them, which need that counselors maintain confidentiality in offering their services. The adult clients are assumed rational in providing any kind of information to the counselors. Managing confidentiality in counseling minors tends to be very complex because most of them are frightened and have doubts that the information given out might be divulged to third parties, who might threaten the minors to the extent of causing more harm to them (McLeod, 2004). Ethical dilemma and steps Having a mentally disturbed patient who suffers from paranoia, at this point, the situation needing attention is a description of paranoia, the different forms, and symptoms with the patient and how to calm the effects of paranoia. The therapist decides on the best way possible to handle the patient. The decision made will affect both the patient and other colleagues in different ways-the patient should be informed of the measures to take when certain feelings of anxiety, fear, and or violent reactions come up. The psychologist should contact the patient’s family or friends and inform them about the consequences of the situation. Consultations and information gathering about the issue of paranoia from other professionals, the internet, and medical literatures will enhance the process of decision making by the psychologist, in order to provide best assistance, the psychologist can also direct the patient to another professional colleague who has vast experience on such situation. In such cases, the ethical standard of confidentiality is breached so to allow extensive acquiring and dissemination of knowledge that will be helpful in assisting both the patient and the entire community, but privacy and anonymity of patients situation should be taken into consideration. In order to clearly understand and p rovide solution to the situation, the psychologist should analyze the links between family, behavior, culture, and relevant theories that correlate to the dilemma of the patient.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Confidentiality in Counseling specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In most cases, counseling jeopardizes a person’s feelings, rights, position, and judgment. In this situation, the psychologist should prioritize the patient’s dilemma, and consider performance to the best even if it breaches the legalities, provided it does not endanger the patient-community relation. In offering the professional services, the psychologist should consider the role of other aspects in the community towards the decisions undertaken in the entire process, how paranoia is perceived within the cultural, religious, and social contexts, and corrective steps taken should such aspects result into conflicts, by either seeking legal assistance. In case of unexpected results in future, the psychologist should develop alternative courses of action-if for example the services given to the paranoia patient fails, or face prejudice from community, prescription of other professional services should be advised accordingly. The situation at hand should be looked at and advised within a larger perspective in consideration to the effects and those affected by the decision; the process should accommodate and harmonize the perspectives of all the members involved in counseling. All the decisions made by the professional counselor should be undertaken in consideration of personal responsibility to the latter, through reconciliatory means in consideration to ethical code, response, and actions. The possible outcome and the eventuality of the results should be evaluated by the psychologist in terms of the overall action taken in providing counseling services to the paranoia patient and the results, if negative, other ca use of action should be prescribed to correct the situation of either the patient, conflict from society, legal issues, and other areas. The above processes should be followed by the psychologist to ensure that the decision taken in order to assist the paranoia patient does not compromise the safety of all the parties involved. In addition, the services provided help the patient’s life in future; it will ensure that future challenges are overcome in a conflict free environment while guaranteeing better professional services to patients (Pope, Vasquez, 2007, p.111). Challenges facing Confidentiality Sometimes, in the counseling process, not all the information is availed by the client and such information could be needed for different issues to take place. For example, a client who has been severally abused sexually by his/her parents, or a stranger for that matter could hide such information from the counselor due to the relation that exists between the client and the perpetr ator.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This hidden information is required by the counselor and medical practitioners to prescribe medication and other measures for the client. Hence, the counselor might opt to get the information from a third party to be able to ensure the success of counseling. Such a situation breaches confidentiality of the information for both parties. Parental consent Parental consent is needed from parent or guardian before entering counseling relationship especially in cases where the minors are considered not to make informed decisions about certain issues. However, their inclusion in the counseling process might restrict some information form the minors and as a result breaching confidentiality of the entire process. Competency (Age limits) – where the client is a minor, an adult has a great influence towards confidentiality. For minors who are seen as irrational in terms of revealing information and making decisions, the confidentiality is not guaranteed to some extent because a third party has to be involved in such a context to reveal or confirm certain information. The competency of age determines the confidentiality of the counseling process. Legal issues Matters concerning the various laws of any given state influence confidentiality in a way; for example, in cases of minor pregnancy, the minor might refuse to inform her parents about the plans for an abortion or even the pregnancy. Thus, if the abortion goes out of hand, the counselor is held responsible by law as for not informing the parents. Moreover, privacy rights influence confidentiality in counseling. Decisions making models Several models are used by counselors to promote the clients welfare depending on the situation at hand. Here, complexity of the situation and information provided by the client would influence the use of a third party. Privileged communication – This refers to the rights that protect clients from disclosing information during legal proceedings without informed consent (Pat, 1998). Confidentiality in various situations is breached, such as where it has involved notifiable diseases and the entire society has to be informed of the disease and its dangers. Other situation involve the births and deaths of individuals by the clients, information given to the police officers due to accidents and or crime, court orders which would require that certain information be made available to third parties, and where the professionals have to share certain information. All these forms result in breaching of confidentiality in any cases of counseling (Palmer, 1997). Benefits of confidentiality The client benefits from confidentiality during the counseling process in that, the client has a secure environment to give a full and frank account of issues pertaining to the problems they are facing. In other words, the client has someone whom he or she can accord trust for counseling services. Confidentiality supports public confidence and trust in both counseling and th e general healthcare services. It expresses mutual respect for the client or patient, and the autonomy of the patient is guaranteed. Confidentiality also guarantees the clients’ beneficence, non-maleficence (no intentions of harming the client whatsoever), justice and equal treatment and fidelity (loyalty, reliability and action in good faith). In certain cases, confidentiality reduces chances of the client being vulnerable to certain risks that may arise if the information revealed is made public and or relayed to a third party. Confidentiality ensures that the clients’ situation is dealt with, however nasty it may look to the client, and hence reduces chances of certain solvable situations worsening and becoming catastrophic in future. Clients are able to access professional assistance without the fear of victimization, and hence the reduction of the guilty conscience in the clients’ lives (Poon, 2003). Conclusion Counseling involves numerous services that are provided to the clients by professional counselors. These services concern and influence a persons taste, beliefs, thoughts, and fantasies. Confidentiality greatly influences the entire process of counseling, as the client and the professional counselor have to build and maintain trustworthy ground of access to information from both parties for the entire process to be successful. Different groups influence the extent of confidentiality during the counseling process, hence resulting into variation of management of confidentiality among the different groups. There are situations where confidentiality needs to be breached in order to get specific information about certain issues, and also to solve and prevent the occurrence of catastrophes in the entire society from the influence of information provided by the client. The clients benefit from confidentiality in many different ways. In counseling, the professionals should adhere and strictly maintain and ensure that privacy and confid entiality of the process is maintained to the latter, as this ensures the success of the counseling process. References Bond, T. (2000). Standards and ethics for counseling in action. London: Sage. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=yVx3LkOQA8YCpg=PA150dq=confidentiality+in+counsellinghl=enei=XtLDTeb0DtHLswaM9_WHDwsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=4ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw#v=onepageq=confidentiality%20in%20counsellingf=true. Burnard, P. (2005). Counseling skills for health professionals. London: Nelson Thornes Ltd. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=xQIqC-_49wECpg=PA188dq=confidentiality+in+counsellinghl=enei=XtLDTeb0DtHLswaM9_WHDwsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=8ved=0CFUQ6AEwBw#v=onepageq=confidentiality%20in%20counsellingf=true. Feltham, C., and Dryden, W. (2006). Brief counselling: a practical, integrative approach. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill International. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=ak_sybCOn-gCprintsec=frontcover#v=onepageqf=false. McLeod, J. (2004). The counsellors workbook: developing a personal approach. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill International. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=GpZsUxLdgvYCpg=PA102dq=confidentiality+in+counsellinghl=enei=eDLGTdvuAsXNswbsm7SXDwsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=4ved=0CEUQ6AEwAw#v=onepageq=confidentiality%20in%20counsellingf=false. Palmer, S. (1997). Handbook of counseling. London: Routledge. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=Hloe33OCZqECpg=PA525dq=confidentiality+in+counsellinghl=enei=XtLDTeb0DtHLswaM9_WHDwsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=2ved=0CDcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepageq=confidentiality%20in%20counsellingf=true. Pat, L. (1998). Counseling Minors: Ethical and Legal Issues. Counseling and Values, Vol, 42, Issue 3. Retrieved from pc3connect.org/otherdocs/COUNSELING%20MINORS-%20ETHICAL%20AND%20LEGAL%20ISSUES.PDF. Poon, S, M. (2003). Counseling â€Å"for life enrichment faith, hope, and love.† Singapore: All Nations Enterprise Ltd. Retrieved from https://boo ks.google.com/books?id=VJD3mdqSk6oCprintsec=frontcoverdq=counsellinghl=enei=-9bDTa7NJY_CtAbakvHIDwsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=6ved=0CFwQ6AEwBQ#v=onepageqf=false Pope, S, K., Vasquez, T, J. (2007). Ethics in Psychotherapy and Counseling. CA: John Wiley Sons, Inc.

Teamwork Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Teamwork Philosophy - Essay Example The kind of team I have to work with as a manager belongs to the second category because it is a project team. Many important functions of such teams ranging from completing work to developing system innovations to delivering quality to customers heavily depend on good communication. This is why a recent research survey has revealed ineffective communication â€Å"as the biggest barrier to team effectiveness† (Cardon, 2014, p. 66). Good teams are based on a solid foundation of goals and norms. One of the most decisive goals is being able to negotiate or discuss options in a healthy way. There are many sensitive managers who want to avoid confrontation as much as possible and prefer to find escape in difficult times instead of addressing the problem at hand. Research has it members of effective teams consider it critically important â€Å"to spend most of their time discussing work issues† . This is the state of high-performing teams. In contrast, lower-performing teams do not make wise investments in discussing work problems which prevents team members from bonding around work issues. In order to accomplish goals on time, I intend to lead my team by developing a common sense of purpose. Research claims that organizing problem-solving meeting can help to align interests of managers and team members. Many times teams perform poorly because there are conflicting interests. This conflict becomes a hurdle in the way of achieving a common goal.  Ã‚     I am personally strictly against suppressing someone’s voice to advance my personal interests.

Weight Loss and Triglyceride Level Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Weight Loss and Triglyceride Level - Essay Example A diet containing more energy than needed may lead to prolonged postprandial hyperlipidaemia and to deposition of triglycerides in adipose tissues resulting in obesity. From a practical point of view, all hypotheses regarding the genesis of obesity can be put down to over-nutrition, meaning a hyper-energy food intake. If at all a relationship exists, this could make a sound basis for preventive and therapeutic recommendations (Anderson, J.W. and Hoie, L.H., 2005). Elevation of serum cholesterol is one of the factors that carry an increased risk for the development of coronary heart disease. Today, there is a vast body of evidence demonstrating a triangular causal relationship between habitual diet, blood cholesterol-lipoprotein levels, and coronary heart disease. In a very large proportion of individuals with a raised cholesterol level, the blood concentration of the triglycerides is also markedly increased. It has been claimed that correlation between triglycerides and coronary heart disease is as good as that between serum cholesterol and coronary heart disease. Research work has suggested that triglyceride levels may act as significant independent risk factors for coronary heart disease. Both cholesterol and triglycerides are associated with specific proteins in the plasma to form lipoproteins (Van Gaal, L.C., Mertens, I.L., and Ballaux, D., 2005). Thus the significance of the risk factor has not been determined, and this case study aims at finding this relationship in a small sample size of 35 obese patients with the hypothesis that restricting the consumption of fatty acids and exercise in order to reduce the body weight of these patients will reduce the triglyceride levels and would reduce the risks of coronary heart disease in these patients in a predictable manner such that a generalization can be made as to how much weight needs to be reduced to achieve a goal serum triglyceride level, and this can be calculated with the formula in a given population that matches with the patients included in this study. Characteristics of the Patients: The patients were obese. By definition, obesity is abnormal growth of the adipose tissue due to an enlargement of the fat cell size or increase in the fact cell number or a combination of both. Obesity is often expressed in terms of body mass index. The composition of the diet and the amount of energy driven from it are relevant to the aetiology of obesity. Consequently, a diet containing more energy than needed may lead to prolonged post-prandial hyperlipidaemia and to deposition of triglycerides in adipose tissue resulting in obesity. This group of patients is obese as per the previous definition. In these patients, the obesity is presumed to be due to high energy intake in the diet as opposed to the energy expenditure in the form of work or exercise (Nordmann, A.J. et al., 2006). The most important determinant of triglyceride level is the activity of the enzyme lipoprotein lipase in the endothelial lining of the capillaries of a variety of tissues including heart. If dietary fat intake is high, then the capacity of this enzyme to remove triglycerides particularly from the very low density lipoproteins and converting them to lipoproteins of the higher density would be affected. The result would be deposition of triglycerides in the media of the small arteries leading to atherosclerosis and luminal compromise leading to decreased blood flow at the time of the need. Thus the only way to reduce this risk of coronary heart disease is to reduce body weight by means of reduced consumption of fatty acids and exercise. Concomitantly, drug therapy with statins would also reduce the trigly

Physical And Slapstick Comedy Film Studies Essay

Physical And Slapstick Comedy Film Studies Essay Early film comedy certainly focuses more on physical comedy-the slap in the face, the anvil falling on a head kind of stuff. With film being silent, you had to focus on body language to convey meaning. Plots were usually ridiculous and as one punch was being set up, another was being knocked-down. When we finally put sound to film, everything changed. Not only did plot improve, but sound effects added to the mood and tone of a piece. In October, 1927, The Jazz Singer, the first talkie by Warner Brothers, introduced some limited audio. It included the music and some background and sound effects, but no dialogue. It would be another year before dialogue would be included. For one, the technology hadnt been created and many filmmakers and critics, who worried that a focus on dialogue would subvert the unique aesthetic virtues of soundless cinema, (wiki 1). The first feature film to include dialogue was also a Warner Brothers film, The Tenderloin, though only 15 of its 88 minutes actually had dialogue, (wiki). Unfortunately for those comedians who made a career in the world of silent film, such as Charlie Chaplin and, Anny Ondra, didnt fair well in the talkies. The few who did make the transition flourished. Martin Sills and Al Jolson continued their success, while the Marx Brothers finally found their niche. Having found fame in Vaudeville, the Marx Brothers came to the silver screen in their first motion picture Cocoanuts (1929). The Brothers always played the same characters, Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo and was instantly recognized because of their avant-garde personas. There comedy style was very slap-stick (even violent) and sometimes non-sensical. The fact is, slap-stick comedy is often violent and not equally funny. If you filled a room full of a hundred people and showed them old-comedy reels, not everyone would laugh. At times, I was the person not laughing. I discovered that the humor had a lot to do with context and background. In One Week, a couple is crossing a train track and narrowly misses being hit by a train. Then, on key, a train hits their stuff from the other direction. Funny stuff, right? Perhaps not if you recently had a friend killed by a train. I paid more attention this semester when watching popular television shows such as Americas Funniest Home Videos. I discovered that I often gasped in disbelief, not laughter. A middle-aged-man acting like a monkey on a trampoline is funny, but Im not sure how him falling off, face first, doesnt make more people think of the life time of medical bills or rehabilitation he might have to endure. I assume that my background in caring for someone injured and the struggles Ive had with injury have tarnished my ability to find humor in dangerous situations. The humor might be lost on the few who look at these situational comedies differently. These films (Duck Soup and Slapstick Masters) also pioneered some of the situational comedy that is still popular today. Some of these examples include: the anvil on the head, the near-miss train, sawing the wrong end of beam, etc. When these films were popular, it was the first time people saw these skits and stunts. I would imagine that audiences were in stitches. And, when you look at the seriousness of their lives, war, depression, and economic collapse, this type of humor was a welcome break from factory life. They needed that release. My generation grew up watching full-color, full-access cable and weve seen hundreds of these skits time and time again. I found the old Charlie Chaplin and Marx Brothers routines to be predictable. Basically, Ive seen it before. The mirror routine that the Marx Brothers perform in Duck Soup, Ive seen at least twice, in The Parent Trap and Strictly Business. I have thousands of hours of cartoons catalogued in my brain. The Road Runner and Wylie Coyote used a lot of these slap-stick techniques such as the classic stick of TNT, with a faulty fuse, that explodes on the initiator. We also have some modern slapstick heros such as Jim Carey and Chevy Chase. And Saturday Night Live is full of physical comedy and off-color humor. It appears the older I get the more I prefer satire or intellectual comedy. I dont want to be handed the joke I want to work for it. I think the Cohen Brothers share my philosophy and tend to produce dark comedies. The Big Lebowski, one of the few Cohen films I was not familiar with, definitely uses satire. The Dude gets roped into a scheme to save Bunny, a near-broke millionaires trophy wife from kidnappers. The Dude was originally mistaken for the millionaire when a group of thugs came to collect a debt from him. They ruined his rug and the Dude sought out the real Lebowski for restitution. He takes a rug and returns to his humdrum life, bowling with his inept friends and smoking pot. The film has a huge cast of characters, and each one adds some twist to the plot. In the end, we find that Bunny returns from holiday (unbeknownst to her husband) and Mr. Lebowski turns out to be as crooked as his fake kidnappers. The Dude returns to his normal life and continues to bowl, albeit one friend less. This is the kind of irony-ridden, plot twisting, ridiculousness, I just love and it makes you laugh. Its absurd. We certainly saw a wide-range of comedic works this semester. I was introduced to works Ive never seen, a few I never heard of, and several I would have never watched on my own. I understand a bit more about why people find some thing things humorous while others do not. I also learned more about early American film, and how actors of the day, especially from Vaudeville struggled to make the shift from a live audience to that of paid-patrons of the silver-screen. Comedy is perhaps the hardest type of writing to produce and perhaps the hardest to perform because of the endless variables of the audience. Humor is fickle, but if you find it, laughter can be timeless.

Humorous Wedding Speech †Two Best Men -- Wedding Toasts Roasts Speech

Humorous Wedding Speech – Two Best Men Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen. For those of you that are wondering why there are two best men standing up here, it’s perfectly simple. Arthur wanted to appoint a best man for the occasion, but sadly couldn’t find one, so he got two barely competent ones instead. So before I start, let me clarify the ‘role’ situation. Dennis, Arthur’s university friend and very trustworthy, was responsible for carrying the rings in church. I am Steve, Arthur’s childhood friend and very good with lager (beer). I was responsible for organizing the stag weekend (bachelor’s party). We both had the responsibility of getting him to the church on time, smartly dressed and sober†¦ but neither of us could achieve that last part. And, regrettably, we have both been asked to give a short speech. So why does it take two of us to describe the bridegroom? Well, as the man in Moss Bros said, 'There's a lot to fit in'. But you can rest assured that I’ll be keeping my part brief†¦ as I know the other bloke (guy) can drone on for hours! So what can I tell you about Arthur Wilson? He is my oldest friend and I’m convinced that without his guiding hand while we were growing up I would have been half the man I am today†¦ and certainly twice as popular. From an early age we lived a few doors away from each other, so not only did we become great friends we also became great rivals, and obviously ... ...y became trapped in the sticky beer socked carpet, the music was too loud for a conversation and it was pretty dark as well. Everything was in Arthur's favour! Playing hard to get though, Linda tells me it was months before she fell for Arthur. But having witnessed how quickly they progressed to a cat and five kittens, I'm not so sure. Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for listening to Steve and myself. If you’re having a fantastic time today - which I’m sure you all are - that’s a direct result of the months of hard work and meticulous planning by Arthur and Linda. They have done an incredible job to make this a truly wonderful wedding, so please all stand as I propose this toast – to the bride and groom.

Effects of Teenage Smoking

The Effects of Smoking on Adolescent Behavior and Their Ability to Perform Well in School James Grimes Eastern Kentucky University Abstract There is a considerable body of empirical research that has identified adolescent peer relationships as a primary factor involved in adolescent cigarette smoking. Despite this large research base, many questions remain unanswered about the mechanisms by which peers affect youths’ smoking behavior. Understanding these processes of influence is the key to the development of prevention and intervention programs designed to address adolescent smoking as a significant public health concern.In this paper, theoretical frameworks and empirical findings are reviewed critically which inform the current state of knowledge regarding peer influences on teenage smoking. Specifically, social learning theory, primary socialization theory, social identity theory and social network theory are discussed. Empirical findings regarding peer influence and select ion, as well as multiple reference points in adolescent friendships, including best friendships, romantic relationships, peer groups and social crowds, are also reviewed.Review of this work reveals the contribution that peers have in adolescents’ use of tobacco, in some cases promoting use, and in other cases deterring it. The Effects of Smoking on Adolescent Behavior and Their Ability to Perform Well in School Introduction Smoking by adolescents is a social activity and subject to peer pressure. Peers may offer information on where to buy cigarettes and even how to smoke them. Teenagers are often evaluated by the peers as to how cool he or she may be.Popular culture dictates an association between smoking and being a cool kid as much as wearing the right clothes, having a certain haircut, and being friends with the right people. In a since, smoking is a way of reflecting an identity. Knowing this one must ask is smoking by adolescents is really an act they wish to perform. W hether you smoke or not can determine who your friends may be. Kobus (2003) suggests that non smokers tend to befriend non smokers and smokers tend to befriend smokers. Non smokers that do become friends with smokers run a much higher risk at becoming a smoker themselves.Hypothesis In this study, I believe that adolescent who smoke will most likely have friends who smoke. I believe this study will show that 25% of the teenagers polled will be smokers and 80% of them will be friends with other smokers. It will also prove that the non smokers will be less likely to be friends with smokers. Literature Review Kobus (2003) suggests that peer relationships are the primary factor involved in cigarette smoking. Specifically, social learning theory, primary socialization theory, social identity theory and social network theory are discussed.Empirical findings regarding peer influence and selection, as well as multiple reference points in adolescent friendships, including best friendships, ro mantic relationships, peer groups and social crowds, are also reviewed. Patton, Hibbert, Rosier, Carlin, Caust, and Bowes (1996) state that an association of smoking with depression and anxiety has been documented in adult smokers. Subjects reporting high levels of depression and anxiety were twice as likely to be smokers after the potential confounders of year level; sex, alcohol use, and parental smoking were controlled for.Regular smokers were almost twice as likely as occasional smokers to report high levels of depression and anxiety. In trying to determine whether smoking can influence a student's school performance, Te-wei, Zihua, and Keeler (1998) report there’s no direct causation from smoking to school performance, but smoking might have an indirect effect, leading to other delinquency behaviors or drug abuse. These behaviors, in turn, could lead to poor school performance. However, the main argument against this hypothesis is that smoking is a relatively common beha vior relative to other factors that lead to antisocial behaviors.Methodology Population The population I used in this study of sophomore students in Ms. Powell’s math classes at McCreary Central High. I posted a survey to a web site and have asked all that would to take the survey. Instruments I started my survey by asking a yes or no question: â€Å"Do you smoke? † Then I asked all the non smokers the following 5 questions: 1. Are you male or female? 2. Does either of your parents smoke? 3. Do you feel pressure from your friends to smoke? 4. Would you have a best friend that smokes? 5. What is your average grade in school? Then I asked all smokers the following questions: 1.Are you male or female? 2. Does either of your parents smoke? 3. Do you pressure your friends to smoke? 4. Does your best friend smoke? 5. What is your average grade in school? Data Analysis At the time of writing this draft I have not collected any data yet. I will add this on my final draft. Disc ussion At the time I am writing the first draft I haven’t had enough time to collect the data for my paper. I have posted my questions using survey monkey to a web page at McCreary Central High where my wife teaches. She is going to ask student from her class to take the survey. So far I have only had 4 people take the survey.This is hardly enough to come to any conclusions. Conclusions In Conclusion, I plan on collecting the date from my surveys to analyze. Kobus (2003) concludes that adolescent peer relationships contribute to adolescent cigarette smoking. Youth who are friends with smokers have been found to be more likely to smoke themselves than those with only nonsmokers as friends. Best friends, romantic partners, peer groups and social crowds all have been found to contribute to the smoking or non-smoking behavior of teenagers. In some cases, peer influences promote smoking and, in other cases, they deter it.The mechanisms of peer influence appear to be more covert an d subtle than is thought commonly. That is, rather than be the result of direct and coercive pressures, decisions regarding smoking behavior have been found to reflect predetermined choices about fitting in, social approval, popularity and autonomy. Parents and the media have also been found to contribute to the smoking or non-smoking of youth.References Akers, R. L. , Massey, J. , Clarke, W. , ;amp; Lauer, R. M. (1983). Are Self-Reports of Adolescent Deviance Valid? Biochemical Measures, Randomized Response, and the Bogus Pipeline in Smoking Behavior. Social Forces, 62(1), 234-251. Freinkel, S. , Fuerst, M. L. , ;amp; Krieger, E. B. (1999). Teen Smoking: The Longest Drag. Health (Time Inc. Health), 13(6), 18. Kobus, K. (2003). Peers and adolescent smoking. Addiction, 9837-55. doi:10. 1046/j. 1360-0443. 98. s1. 4. x Patton, G. C. , Hibbert, M. , Rosier, M. J. , Carlin, J. B. , Caust, J. , ;amp; Bowes, G. (1996). Is Smoking Associated with Depression and Anxiety in Teenagers?. Americ an Journal Of Public Health, 86(2), 225. Te-wei, H. , Zihua, L. , ;amp; Keeler, T. E. (1998). Teenage Smoking, Attempts to Quit, and School Performance. American Journal Of Public Health, 88(6), 940-943.