British Imperialism: 1870-1914

There are many historical events that marked the British Imperialism of 1870 to 1914. Great Britain’s African rule was established and consolidated. This was focused mainly in the East and Southern Africa. British won the conflict with the French in Fashoda in 1898. Further, Britain also defeated Dutch resistance in the Boer War between 1899 and 1902. Britain also annexed Rhodesia into its territory. Great Britain got power over Burma and Malaysia. The two â€Å"opium wars† one in 1839 to 1842 and the second 1856 to 1860 widened the trade with China and the loss of Port of Vladivostok along the Pacific Ocean.Most importantly, Great Britain won the conflict for rule over India against France. The British East India Company was instrumental in consolidating the British rule in India. The British policy was very clear and that was to exploit India economically. There were problems for the British no doubt, for instance there was the â€Å"sepoy† mutiny of 1857-58 th at was quickly put down. Further, in 1885 Indian National Congress was established and that marked increased nationalism in India. This imperialism paid because during the World War I India supported Great Britain with men and finances (Matias.P 267). This brings us to the reason for British Imperialism between 1870 and 1914. The most important reason for the imperialism was economic. This was fuelled by the industrial revolution. This generated large amounts of capital in Great Britain as well as a huge demand for raw materials to feed the factories. There was a need for Britain to procure raw materials from abroad as well as seek investment opportunities for the new capital. Adding to this reason was the need to express nationalism. Imperialism provided Great Britain an opportunity to expand colonialism.There was a spirit of acquisition and a political race among the European countries to acquire more and more colonies (Laity, P. 74). Finally, the most powerful impetus in Great Br itain was the military. The military exerted great power in Britain and the military stressed the need for Britain to control importantly located areas and the need to set up military bases in key locations. To add to this cauldron of reasons was a religious fervor that favored imperialism. The extension of colonies was believed to be an act of humanitarianism in Great Britain.There are very mixed opinions on what benefits imperialism brought to Britain. There are suggestions by economists that with unemployment and industrial stagnation at home, the export of capital was a miscalculation. Economists believed that Great Britain would have been much better off with its capital at home rather than investing it abroad in colonies. The investments in colonies were not believed to be productive. Capture of new markets and expansion of economic imperialism was sadly behind schedule and satisfactory.Late nineteenth century capital investments in colonies were believed to be non-productive. The returns were lower than investments made back in Great Britain. On the other hand the argument that imperialism was humanist is nature is refuted by ‘nationalist’ writers who discuss the economic costs of British imperialism to Britain’s colonies, most prominently India. These writers claim that the British did not bring finances, medical advancement or prosperity to India; instead they brought with them a lasting legacy of backwardness and poverty.In other words it is argued that British imperialism brought economic impairment both to Britain and its colonies. Those who insist that British Imperialism brought benefits assert that Great Britain brought economic openness to its colonies especially in the period 1870 to 1914. This openness was brought not only to African and Asian colonies but also to South America and Japan. In addition, the proponents of British Imperialism point out that Great Britain allowed some emigration to some of its colonies and so p romoted the migration of labor from less developed to more developed societies.Moreover, historians claim that British Imperialism led to greater movement of investment capital to agrarian societies. Further, in its colonies British Imperialism has brought about good governance that includes the right to private property, reasonable and efficient government, What the British did in its colonies was to hold taxes to moderate levels. The British Imperialism is reputed to have provided its colonies with honest governments; there was not much nepotism. The government provided in the colonies was responsive to the needs of the people.The government and the law provided backing to enforcement of contracts and most importantly, the British imperialism provided in its colonies a right to individual liberty, especially against felony and corruption (Heyck, T, 35). The British established the common law in its colonies. From 1870s the British practiced the principle of keeping the tariffs low and the practice of cheap bread. In much of the British colonies the tariffs were also kept low except for the Dominions that were given the right to set their own tariffs in late nineteenth century.Had Britain withdrawn from its colonies in the late nineteenth century then larger tariffs would have been imposed against its exports and tariff barriers would have become the norm (Twaddle, M 17). The British Imperialism took place in the context of increasing tussle in Europe over strategic position, resources and esteem. During the period preceding 1870 that is between 1815 and 1871, Great Britain enjoyed profits of industrialization relatively easily. The British industry could produce expertly produced goods that could capture any market and out compete any other local products.However, the Franco-Prussian war in 1871 challenged the position of Britain. From the economic point of view what happened was that the industrial supremacy was gradually replaced with a need for financial conquest. In the latter half of the nineteenth century the industrial and commercial sluggishness in Britain spurred the formation of large companies and even conglomerates. The financial sector increased its influence over the British politics. There was a clamor that the government should protect the foreign investments.What prompted such demands was that the foreign investments were in assets like railroads and there was political unrest in several colonies where the investment had been made. In 1875 Britain purchased the shareholdings of the Egyptian ruler Ismail and managed to establish control over the Suez Canal. The French control in the area ended when the British occupied Egypt in 1882. After this the British wanted to control the Nile valley. For this they conquered Sudan between 1896 and 1898. The focus of the British Empire then focused on South Africa and in 1899 completed the takeover of that country.The British Empire had reaped great harvests from occupying Transvaa l with its deposits of gold and the Orange Free State (Cain, P 250). The British High Commissioner Alfred Miller pleaded for a British Empire that ranged from â€Å"Cape to Cairo† and that should be linked by railroad. This he explained would help exploit the minerals of the region. The military still exercised its say in the expansion of its Imperialism. To counter the expansion of Russia in 1878, Great Britain occupied Cyprus and established a base there. On the other side Afghanistan was annexed and occupied to block any Russian advance in that direction.This military strategic advancement led to the gory confrontation in Tibet (1903 – 1904). Economic explanations were provided for the far ranging increase of the British Empire. The explanation was that Great Britain was trying to protect its shrinking markets. It was under these explanations that Great Britain modified its policies in 1890 and tried to grab as much of the tropical African territories as possible. I n India after the ‘sepoy’ rebellion, there was a formal transfer of power from the British East India Company to the British government.The Governor-General the highest Company official in India was now appointed by the British government. In 1876 Queen Victoria was proclaimed the Empress of India and replaced the administration with civil servants trained in top British Universities. The princely states of India accepted the lordship of British. In 1880s British imperialism saw its expansion with the occupation of Burma. To sum, the British Imperialism of 1870-1914 saw the almost unbridled growth of the British Empire that gave birth to the saying â€Å"The sun never sets on the British Empire†.Even though there were costs that Britain had to bear in general it made several gains and established itself as a superior economic, military and political power. Reference: Cain, P. Hobson and Imperialism: Hobson Imperialism C, Oxford University Press,2002. Heyck, T, A History of the Peoples of the British Isles Routledge, Great Britain, 2002. Laity, P. The British Peace Movement 1870-1914, Oxford University press, 2001. Matias. P, The First Industrial Nation: The Economic History of Britain, Routledge, Great Britain, 1969. Twaddle, M. Imperialism and the State in the Third World, British Academy Press, 1992,

Fate vs. Free Will

Although the gods know what one's life will be before he lives it, man still has the freewill to live as he wills†. Fate is an event or action which Is destined to happen in a particular way whereas freewill is the ability to act In a manner which is not influenced by predestination. I believe that these two philosophical concepts Influence the outcome of one another. The basic Interpretation of this adage means that the gods know what our lives are going to be Like from the first moment of birth o our last moment of death, and this ideology refers to fate.During the duration between these two important points, man has the ability to go about and choose to do whatever he may desire, and this ideology refers to freewill. The gods know what choices you are going to make as well as its result. Personally I am able to relate on how fate and freewill influence the outcome of each other. In my religion, it is believed that life in an ongoing cycle and that the person who you are in o ne life will affect the person who you will be in your next life.Likewise a few medical problems, such as high cholesterol and diabetes, run In my family. The elders try their best to encourage each other to remain aware about the health conditions. Recently I have had two deaths In my family relevant to health- related problems. My uncle died to the fatal effects of diabetes and my great- grandmother died due to a weight-related Illness. Before these two very Important and influential people even thought about the poor choices they were intending to make, the gods already knew what the outcome would be.Carols Irwin Settees, also known as by his stage-name Charlie Sheen, was born into a family of renowned actor and actresses and it was assumed, or likewise â€Å"destined†, for him to follow in his family footsteps. However, the outcome of his life did not turn out to be what was expected. This happened when he came across two paths; the path of righteousness and the path of w rongdoing. Unfortunately, Charlie Sheen took the wrong path which led to the physical and emotional destruction of his life and career.This path included alcohol and drug abuse and marital problems, as well as allegations of committing domestic violence. This led to his ejection from the hit television series Two and a Half Men. This scenario portrays how Charlie Sheen was able to go about himself and take whichever actions he desired to do, but the gods already knew what the outcome of his life would be. Fate vs†¦ Free Will By divvy_ran freewill to live as he wills†. Fate is an event or action which is destined to happen in a reticular way whereas freewill is the ability to act in a manner which is not influence the outcome of one another.The basic interpretation of this adage means that the gods know what our lives are going to be like from the first moment of birth Likewise a few medical problems, such as high cholesterol and diabetes, run in my health conditions. Rece ntly I have had two deaths in my family relevant to health- grandmother died due to a weight-related illness. Before these two very important hit television series Two and a Half Men. This scenario portrays how Charlie Sheen

Community Service Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Community Service - Essay Example It depends upon the location and the community as well as its needs. Mostly, service includes assistance towards vulnerable and disadvantaged members of the society in their betterment. Today, community service is undertaken by almost any member of any society and not just by offenders; philanthropists, businessmen as well as students alike have the leverage to give back whatever they can and help society in their own ways. The main objectives in conducting this review was to find out the history of community service and how it helps people to reform and bring about a change in their lives, and also whether or not the same is even possible. It was found through research that many people have found it therapeutic to engage in service towards others and thus have been able to grow and learn a great deal from the entire experience. People engage in community service to introspect within their own selves as well as meet new people and help the vulnerable and weak sections of the society that we live in. This enables them to not only gain a feel good factor but also helps in bringing a smile to someone else’s face. The research conducted was doctrinal in nature. The main process for finding information regarding this review was my dependence on electronic material. ... I have also engaged in talking to people and thus collecting first hand data regarding their experiences of participating in community service. My own experience has also provided for a paragraph of information in the main article. The main guidelines that I abided by were to look over the objectives of an individual engaging in community service and why he would do so. Moreover, I looked into the background as well as looked up information regarding corporate social responsibility as a part of service towards the community by big industries and companies. The parameters and requirements that I had in mind while conducting research was to include only relevant information – especially that which is first hand in nature because experiences account for the best information regarding answers to questions based on whether or not engaging in service actually helps a person, which has been the fundamental question of an individual being a part of the community and giving back to oth ers. I selected the sources that I have because of their credibility of information and eliminated the others because I did not find them relevant enough to discuss or read. Many articles have general information about community service, however my requirements were specific to reform within an individual and how the servitude is not meant for only those that have wronged the law. Interview 1. Why is it important to have a society with community service? Community service enables people to work for society and helps them in contributing and giving back. Since it first originated for the purpose of carrying on social service on part of offenders of the law, it acted as a punitive measure to provide the offender with a chance to give back to society as well as introspect

Triceratops Trail, CSM Geology Museum, and Dinosaur Ridge Essay

Triceratops Trail, CSM Geology Museum, and Dinosaur Ridge - Essay Example The triceratops trail footprints are different from the Dinosaur Ridge ones in that the ones for Dinosaur Ridge are aged million and are viewed from top. Triceratops Trail characterize tracks that are vied in three dimension formed if an animal leaves a print in mud that is afterwards filled hence forms a cast and vertically tilted by the rocky mountains uplift. The whole process leaves behind tracks that stick from the walls as the original layer had been mined away. Footprints of dinosaurs, birds, mammals and beetles are evident on the walls. It is a trail of 1.5 mile along parkway of Alameda between county road and Rooney road on the North. It has 100 tracks of dinosaurs, geological features and a quarry containing dinosaur bones. It takes about 2 hours to make trips. The trail is composed of more than 15 sites all marked by interpretive signs. At the ridge’s top there is a switchback curve that cuts through revealing the geological Hogback structure. Two overlooks scenes, west and east, are places where Front Range geology is studied or where one can sit and enjoy a beautiful scene. The interpretive signs on the curve show the gas and oil production, the basin of Denver, rocky mountains uplift and Golden fault. The bone quarry was discovered in the year 1877 by a company known as Arthur Lakes. This site was initially known as Morrison quarry no 5. Among the fourteen sites in the location only 4 did produce bones. Quarry no 5 is the bone quarry where the first stegosaurus in the world was discovered. Many vertebrae, limb parts and famous plates’ pieces were discovered and are now evident on Morrison museum display. The bones that are presently exposed at their sites of interpretation are most probably from Apatosaurus and stegosaurs and are washed by rain into stream channel. The bone quarry is amongst the few places where one can have a view of dinosaur bones and touch them in rocks in which they fossilized. The

Zara Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Zara Case Study - Essay Example Moreover, an analysis of the internal environment is performed to determine the strengths as well as weaknesses of the company. It has been observed that there are certain incidents in relation to adverse treatment of employees that has affected the stability of the company. Moreover, the employees are also perceived to be provided with deprived working environment. These incidents are accountable for hampering the brand image as well as reputation of the company. Furthermore, the strategies of the company are recognised in order to determine their appropriateness. It has been perceived that the company is quite successful with its existing strategies. There are a few recommendations which are made with respect to corporate social responsibility policies in order to improve the business principles to perform its operations more responsibly. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 4 2. Q1. Analysis of the External Environment 5 2.1. Macro Environment Analysis – PESTEL

Unemployment in the United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Unemployment in the United States - Essay Example The rapid rise in population that outstrips the available resources has been blamed for the unemployment issue in the United States. The government is trying to curb the unemployment through expansion of the economy and creation of more jobs. The problem of unemployment seems to intensify mainly due to the rise in population particularly in urban areas. The expansion of businesses and the direct investment by the government in the entrepreneurship programs tends to do little to eradicate the issue of unemployment. Unemployment tends to magnify during the times of recession or depression characterized by a shrink in the economy. Unemployment remains a tough issue affecting the United States, particularly among the young people. There is a large number of learned people in the United States but they hardly secure a job due to the scarcity of employment opportunities. According to the BLS household survey (2015), “the US unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage points in June 2015 to 5.3%. Unemployment has remained relatively high since 2009 and this is causing a huge setback to economic growth in the country. Companies have been adopting technology thus doing away with the relatively costly human labor. The rise of technology like completers has replaced human labor thus laying off the workers (Harvey 15). The issue of unemployment will continue to inflict the United States’ economy due to the uncontrolled adoption of technology.

Seizure meds(Advanced pharmacology) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Seizure meds(Advanced pharmacology) - Assignment Example Carbamazepine is absorbed into the small intestines after oral administration rapidly and reliably. Both agents have dose-limited absorption. Referring to the pharmacodynamics, Gabapentin has analgesic properties that are considered therapeutic. Carbamazepine decreases the conductivity of Na+ also inhibits the ectopic discharges and thus alleviates pain. In terms of metabolism, in humans the two drugs undergo metabolism corresponding to N-Methyl metabol though minimally. The drugs do not have interactions with other drugs as they undergo minimal metabolism (Bennet & Simpsons, 2004). Comparison studies for efficacy have been carried out and research conducted shows that Gabapentin is more suited for use as it has clearly shown analgesic effects. This is based on studies conducted and its effects exhibited. The two drugs are used to manage neuropathic pain as the effects of neuropathic pain on the nervous system present same similarities with the pathophysiological phenomena that are observed in convulsing diseases such as epilepsy and therefore anticonvulsant medication is administered in the management of neuropathic pain (Bennet & Simpsons,

How The Blood Diamond War Has Affected International Trade & Business Term Paper

How The Blood Diamond War Has Affected International Trade & Business - Term Paper Example t intervention in 2003 by the international diamond producers under the auspices of the United Nations, created several unforeseen negative externalities for African countries that have become dependent upon revenues from diamond production to support their domestic programs. The paper concludes that the Kimberley Accord process has not been effective in preventing the production and distribution of blood diamonds. In fact, it has spawned an entirely new illicit diamond distribution network through countries such as Lebanon, Guinea and Venezuela. The author posits that the civil wars funded through the sale of blood diamonds will continue in Africa. Conflict between rival factions has been a part of the continent’s culture for centuries. First it was ivory that was sold on the black markets of Europe and North Africa. Then wars over the gold deposits in South Africa killed thousands of innocent people. Today, the culprit is blood diamonds. Unfortunately, the political and economic realities of the region dictate that the future will mirror the activities and events of the past. The name â€Å"blood diamonds† is derived from the fact that these diamonds are mined and sold by rebel armies, terrorist groups and local warlords to fund their purchase of weapons. These insurgent groups then use the weapons to attack government forces or individuals loyal to the government. Blood diamond revenues (also called conflict diamonds) have grown significantly since the early 1990s. Examples of conflicts funded through this revenue source include wars in Sierra Leone, Angola, Cote d’Ivoire and Democratic Republic of Congo. The blood diamond trade and the human rights atrocities associated with it, received international attention through the 2006 film â€Å"Blood Diamond† starring Leonardo diCaprio. The movie created such a public outcry, that De Beers and The World Diamond Council were forced to respond with a public relations campaign that claimed that ninety-nine

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 5

Marketing - Essay Example New product development process Idea Generation Idea generates from different sources. It may be by the influence of the competitor or from the customer. Ideas can be either generated from the internal source like through research and development or from the outside sources like competitors or market research agencies. For example with technological development new types of DVD players are in idea generation process which will play high capacity Forward Versatile Disc or FVD of around 6 gigabyte capacity (Grewal, 2008, p. 308). Idea Screening Sometimes too many ideas are generated which needs to be evaluated and then screened which are not very promising one for the company. The Idea screening process of the foremost U.S motorcycle manufacturer, Harley-Davidson is known as â€Å"The Wall of Fire† who screens different ideas to choose the best out of the development opportunities called â€Å"The Swirl† (Karol, Nelson, 2007, p. 118). Concept Development and Testing The i deas which are screened in the idea screening process are forwarded for the concept development and testing of the screened idea. Ideas can be very beneficial for the company in many cases for which proper testing of the concept is required for its feasibility study. In automobile industry Tata Motors conducted a market research in order to find the gap in the market for its fall in the market share of truck during the year 1998 to 2000. It showed that consumers want a to have a car like vehicle but it can perform like a truck which can carry heavy weights for different purposes (Kumar, 2007, p.29). Marketing strategy development After concept testing the marketing strategies like the description of the target market, distribution channels, pricing policy, advertising, marketing mix strategies and profit in long run are evaluated and managed. For example Unisys identified the need of the customers then developed the project management process after analyzing the feasibility, develop ment qualification etc (Lambert, 2008, p. 151). Business Analysis In the business analysis process the proposal for the development of the product is made along with the cost of development, marketing, manpower resources, technical needs, replacement cycle and the estimated sales forecast. Harley-Davidson eliminated the suppliers who only provide them with prototypes and improved their sales with the direct design technique after analyzing the business process (Lambert, 2008, p. 156). Product Development With the acceptance of the business analysis the next stage is the actual product development which translates the idea into real world entity from drawing. Prototypes are often made for different products in order to understand the feasibility through thorough testing process. Like in case of Ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s they alpha tests their new flavors range amongst the employees of the firm for their feedback (Grewal, 2008, p. 311). Market Testing With successful testin g process and feedback from the prototype the actual final product are made and research is done from the review of the customers. The disadvantage of market testing is that, the competitors came to know about the new product and they can act accordingly. As for example Coca-cola conducted a market testing by launching small eight ounce cans of soda for Coke, Sprite and various other products in Chicago regions. (Grewal, 2008, p. 313) Commercialization / Product launch Market testing process is very essential to decide whether to move for the product launch or commercialization. If any things need to be altered in the product it is done in this stage to suite the market demand (Boone & Kurtz,

Alternative approach to quality control Essay Example for Free

Alternative approach to quality control Essay Game do not produce a product therefore Game focuses its attention on the customer service. Selling the software there are levels of quality control and assurance which can not be beat. Here I have suggested different approaches Game could go about to ensure good customer relations and also to further improve their service to customers. Online Gaming Some websites nowadays that have nothing to do with the gaming industry now have online games for their customers. These online games are very enjoyable and are played by people who discover the games or for people who like to play them. Npower is known as a home electricity and gas provider but on their website they also have a cricket game. This is because they sponsored the cricket matches. My suggestion is that Game as being on of the leading retailers in the games market should produce their own online games. These games could cover a wide range of genres and be accessed from their website. This online gaming experience will encourage customers to visit the website more often and maybe checkout the product more often which could lead to an increase in sales. Many people do online gaming whether its business men or school children a good game lasts in people minds so in Game producing these games the are establishing good customer relations. Downloadable Software Many software businesses have their own websites where so can download upgrades for their current product. Sometimes these are free or you have to pay for them. It is also possible for people to pay and download software from the website. Many Gaming producers have patches and upgrades for their Games for download for their website. My suggestion is that Game should contact the games produces and have newly available software downloadable form their website. Customers that have brought the games keep the product number and when they want to download an upgrade for a game go to the website and type it in. This however, can only be done with PC games. This will be beneficial for game as they will be seen as helping the consumer with achieving the best gaming experience. Instead of customers going to the games producers website they just have to go to one website and get all there downloading needs sorted. This causes less hassle for the consumer and builds good relations with customers. Hints and Tips Many people have produced websites based around hints and tips for people having trouble with Games. These websites have a whole load of games and free information for people who are stuck on a particular level of a game. My suggestion is that Game produces their own hints and tips page for their website. The difference will be that customers will get rewarded for looking up the information form the Game website. The way this will work is that a customer will go to the website type in the product number of the particular game with his/her reward card number. This way the person will be rewarded by extra points on the reward card. In doing this Game are solving any difficulties the customer is having with the game he/she has purchased and rewarding them at the same time. This will increase customer satisfaction and maybe increase sales. All these changes will have an affect on a Games different functional area. I will now look at the changes that would have to be made to the functions of the business. Human Resources. Human resources deal with the training and development of staff within a business. To bring about these changes the human resources director would have to retrain current staff and change the training programme for new staff. Marketing There is a marketing director with staff working under him. There job is to promote their stores in a certain way so they get across a distinct brand image. Another one of their jobs is to promote games along side the producer. A new job for marketing would be the best way to promote these changes made to game. Administration This is the link, which ties all the different functional areas together. The management operations director is in charge of seeing that everything is running smoothly across the different functional areas. The changes made to Games quality control will not have that much of an effect on this department. Buying and Selling There are many directors who look after the sales. These are split up into North and South and there is a European sales director. This department is in charge of the sales that each Game store makes. There is also a buying director who takes care of purchasing stock. In this department they would spend money on maybe improving ICT as most of the changes are ICT related. They would also have to buy new software for producing online games. Finance The finance of Game group is a lot like any other businesses finance group. They take care of the financial aspects of the Game Group things like expenditures and turnovers. The changes will not have that much of an effect on this department. # Research and Development Game is a retailer they provide a service they do not actually make the games. Research would be mainly devoted to see if Game can capture more of a market share. The new media director would look into new ways to promote their business. He would look at ways of expanding on the internet and Digital television. New business development director would look to diversify into new markets. The changes would affect this part of Game to research and develop new aspects to improve quality control. Research would have to go into online gaming on their website this is one of the changes. The second change they would have to develop their current website to enable people to download software from it. The third change would involve research into finding hints and tips for games and putting it up on the website. Jaskanwar Singh Pabla Mr Chadha AVCE Business Studies.

Nursing Research with Children: Ethical Guidelines

Nursing Research with Children: Ethical Guidelines SUCAN SUTANTO Introduction: Singapore Guideline for Good Clinical Practice (SGGCP) is the primary regulatory document which needs to be observed when conducting trials in Singapore. Last revised in 1999 by Ministry of Health (MOH), the SGCCP regulate conduct of clinical trials in Singapore along with The Medicine (Clinical Trials) Regulations and the Medicine Act. For all research studies involving human subjects or their tissues and organs, MOH made it mandatory that ethics committees are established to provide scientific reviews of their study protocols. The establishment of this committee involved all hospitals, both government and restructured. Thus â€Å"Institutional review boards† (IRB) was born and its guidelines was designed by The Bioethics Advisory Committee (BAC). IRB play a central role as the gateway for ethnics review of â€Å"all Human Biomedical Research carried out under the auspices of its appointing institution† (MOH 2007 p.04). Individual researcher and institutions bear the ultimate ethical responsibility for governing their research. Based on the IRB’s Operational Guidelines (MOH 2007), three fundamental ethical principles; respect for persons, beneficence and justice must be followed in conducting biomedical research involving human. Potentially vulnerable populations must be given special attention. The following sections will examine one of the vulnerable populationchildren. It is primarily challenging for the Ethics committees in assessing pediatric related research as the above principles discussed may conflict with some issues. Vague definitions of principle of equipoise, minimal risk and informed procedures are some contributing factors. The role of ethic committees in evaluation of risk and their impact in pediatric research will be given more focus. Search Strategy PubMed database is primarily used in the search. Combination of keywords are used including of ‘ethics committees’, ‘research’, ‘children’, ‘pediatric’, ‘risk’, ‘ethics’ and ‘assessment’. Children as a population sampling In Singapore, 21 years is the age of majority under the common law. For any individual below the age of 21, Clinical Trial regulation states that parent’s or legal representative’s consent must be obtained for participation in trials. This present an ethical dilemma where the children’s autonomy become their parent or legal guardian, assuming that they have the children’s best interest at heart. The risk-benefit ratio of the research is then left to parents and IRBs to determine. Risk assessment in pediatric research According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Pediatric Clinic of North America (Laventhal et al., 2012), there are four definable risk in human research. In Singapore, the risk are less definitive, 2012 BAC guidelines describe only â€Å"research involving minimal risk such as surveys† and â€Å"risks involving more than minimal risks such as those involving invasive procedures† The first level is minimal risk and it can be defined as probability and magnitude of physical or psychological harm that is normally encountered in the daily lives or in the routine medical, dental, or psychological examination of healthy children (HHS 2009). Studies in this category can be carried out even if they do not offer any direct benefit to the child although consent of at least one parent and the child assent is necessary. However this definition is rather vague and carries an inherent issue when applied to pediatric patient such as in the hospital. A survey was conducted on review board chair regarding skin biopsy on newborn and there is actually a split opinion and classification on whether it should be classified as â€Å"minimal risk† (Westra et al., 2011). The second level of risk involves a â€Å"minor increase over minimal risk†. Although there might not be direct benefits to the child, such research might be allowed if it has the potential to yield valuable knowledge. Risks are deemed acceptable if they are comparable to the actual or expected condition of the child, medically or physiologically. In this case, both parents’ consent and child’s assent are required (HHS 2009). The third level of risk is defined as â€Å"greater than minimal or even minor increase over minimal risk† with prospect of direct benefit to the child. Whether the potential benefit justifies the risk must be assessed and determined by IRBs (Laventhal et al., 2012). To determine the risk benefit, IRBs uses component analysis approach. Each intervention or procedure must be evaluated separately. For those components that represent greater than minimal risk, further assessment will be done to determine whether it does or does not hold out the prospect of direct benefit to the enrolled child (Roth-Cline et al., 2011). The component analysis method however has been critiqued as it is standardized to the norm of clinical equipoise to determine the ethical acceptability of protocols. Definitively, clinical equipoise works on the principles of genuine uncertainty on the part of the clinical investigator regarding the comparative therapeutic merits of each treatment arm of a clinical trial and that no one should receive an inferior treatment (Roth-Cline et al., 2011). A dilemma might present itself in trials where data collected is sufficient to doubt the clinical equipoise but not necessarily enough to justify scientific conclusion. An example could be seen in a review of neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) hypothermia treatment trial published by Laventhal et al in 2012. It was shown in a number of trials involving more than 600 infants that cooling HIE infants core temperature might help to elevate their condition. These randomized controlled trials managed to show overall improvement in mortality and disability outcomes although some adverse side effects were reported. However, Laventhal et al., 2012 pointed out that current evidence might not be adequate to determine the safety of this therapy and its efficacy. Therefore, whether to make this treatment mandatory for such patients remain to be decided. In this case, there is a dilemma on whether to allow more of such trials. On one hand, given that much evidence already supports the treatment, it would seem unethical to even deny the controlled subjects from such a beneficial treatment. On the other hand, just because a robust scientific conclusion has not been drawn, is it fair to continue to expose the infants to treatments with possible adverse outcomes? For those randomized into non treatment a rm, would there be any potential direct benefits? Yet, to answer those questions and to find out long term safety and efficacy questions, the only way might be to conduct more trials. Even within the IRB chairmen there are variations and application of assessment of risk- benefit potential. Shah et al in 2004(Shah et al., 2004) randomly surveyed 175 chairmen in United for certain intervention on children relative to the prospect risk and direct benefit. Results were surprising. In one intervention, an allergy skin testing, 23% considers it a minimal risk, close to half consider it minor increase above minimal risk and the rest as more than a minor increase over minimal risk. In the case of direct benefit for participants, 60% of those surveyed consider added psychological counselling as a direct benefit, while another 10% consider participant payment as a direct benefit. These divides in opinion indicates that the integrity of risk and benefits analysis by IRBs can be challenged. The fourth risk level exists for trials where there is no prospect of direct benefit with more than a minor increase over minimal risk for the child. Such studies could be allowed if they have high potential to produce very important knowledge. Such cases are not under approval of IRBs, instead they are referred to an experts panels under the federal government. (Laventhal et al., 2012). In a review by Wendler and Varma in 2006, they examine 9 studies assessed by IRBs which fall into the fourth level. IRBs classified different levels of harm; negligible, minor, moderate, severe and catastrophic harm relative to the normal probability a healthy child may encounter in day to day situation. Wendler and Varma then assess the proposed interventions for each study and then compare with the classification given by IRBS.They argued that eight of the studies could actually be categorized into minimal risk instead of the fourth level of risk. A primary example was the intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) on healthy children. Known possible harms include nausea, bruising and hypoglycemia. Very minimal adverse events were recorded in thousands of pediatric studies involving IVGTT. Only 1 in 3000 risk of hypoglycemia, it can be resolved with carbohydrates or glucose injection. It is therefore arguable that the IVGTT risk much more minimal in comparison to the 30 in 1000 cha nce of â€Å"minor† harm in average children in their daily routines used as a base of the classification. As such, the review shows that misclassification could occur and valuable research time may be delayed unnecessarily. There is a lack of empirical database on risks of ordinary activities for reference and this might be a contributing factor for the misclassification. It forces the IRB members to rely on their own individuals life experiences to determine the perceptions of risk therefore causing biased. To conclude, pediatric studies have been shown to provide an ethical review challenge. In order to improve the risk analysis and reduce bias, empirical data on the risk of research procedures in pediatric studies as well as database on the risk of daily activities should be collected and better established for reference. There should be standardized guidelines for risk analysis with certain flexibility to account for unique feature of each study (1542 words) References: Bioethics Advisory Committee (2004) Research involving human subjects. Guidelines for IRBs. Singapore: BAC. Available from: http://www.bioethics-singapore.org/index/publications/reports/172-research-involving-human-subjects-guidelines-for-irbs.html [Accessed 28th Jan 2015] Bioethics Advisory Committee (2012) Ethics Guidelines for Human Biomedical Research. Singapore: BAC. Available from: http://www.bioethics-singapore.org/images/uploadfile/32914 PM2012-06-20 BAC Ethics Guidelines (for comments) F.pdf [Accessed 28th Jan 2015] Ministry of Health (2007) Governance Framework for Human Biomedical Research. Available from : https://www.moh.gov.sg/content/dam/moh_web/Publications/Guidelines/Human Biomedical Research/2007/Governance Frwk for HBR_14-12-07_formatted.pdf [accessed 02 March 2015] Department of Health and Human Services (2009). US code of Federal Regulations, USA, FDA, Available from: http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/archive/humansubjects/guidance/45cfr46.html#46.404 [Accessed 28th Jan 2015] Fernandez, C. (2008) Ethical Issues in health research in children. Paediatr Child Health 13(8) 707-712 LAVENTHAL, N., TARINI, B. A. LANTOS, J. 2012. Ethical issues in neonatal and pediatric clinical trials. Pediatr Clin North Am, 59, 1205-20. Ministry of Health (2007) Operational Guidelines for Institutional Review Boards. Singapore: MOH Available from: https://www.moh.gov.sg/content/dam/moh_web/Publications/Guidelines/Human Biomedical Research/2007/IRB Operational Guidelines_14-12-07_formatted.pdf [Accessed 28th Jan 2015] ROTH-CLINE, M., GERSON, J., BRIGHT, P., LEE, C. S. NELSON, R. M. 2011. Ethical considerations in conducting pediatric research. Handb Exp Pharmacol, 205, 219-44. SHAH, S., WHITTLE, A., WILFOND, B., GENSLER, G. WENDLER, D. 2004. 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