Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Essays (849 words) - RTT, Fertility

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome How does alcohol affect the unborn baby? What kinds of effects may result in the child and it will it affect it for the rest of his or her life? Whenever you take a drink, the alcohol readily crosses the placenta and enters the babies bloodstream. However the babies tiny developing system is not equipped to handle alcohol and is effected much more severely than is the mother. Every time you take a drink the unborn baby takes a drink as well. Nobody really knows how much alcohol it takes to harm an unborn baby. As the consumption increases so do the risks. Another report suggests that not only can alcohol cause birth defects it can also create leukemia. This new study included six hundred eleven children younger than eighteen months old, two hundred fifty of who had leukemia. (http://babyzone.com/drugs.htm) Alcohol and pregnancy do not mix. Almost any level of consumption of alcohol can affect the baby during pregnancy. Many sorts of consequences vary from fetal alcohol syndrome to malfunctions in mental or physical development. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is patterns in of malfunctions and disabilities resulting from the pregnant mother drinking. Heavy drinking on a consistent basis or binge drinking on an occasional basis can cause F.A.S.. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is currently the leading cause of mental retardation in the United States. The effects of F.A.S. are not always so drastic. Children are born with less dramatic physical defects. Often though, many individuals with this may look quite normal but may have significant deficits. Such deficits as intellectual, behavioral, and social behaviors. All of these problems may and will prevent the children being born with F.A.S. or alcohol related birth defects from having normal lives. http://members.aol.com/creaconic/fas.html) Drinking early in the pregnancy even before the woman knows she is pregnant increases the chance of having a baby with growth deficiency or birth defects. Forty four percent of woman who drink heavily during pregnancy will have a child with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Of the other fifty six percent, some will have effects such as minor learning and behavioral difficulties. (http://www.noah.cunyedu/pregnancy/marchofdimes/substance/alc&preg.html) A mothers nutritional status and physical well being may also play roles whether or not the baby can be affected, and to what degree. Also important the less exposure to the fetus the better off it will be. When it is exposed over time daily or on an hourly basis is of vital importance. Many other factors may easily affect the unborn baby. Birth defects can easily range from being a small defect or a serious problem which will always affect the babies life. One example of this is the amount of alcohol the pregnant woman can consume. The time also plays a huge role on affecting the babies status. Obviously, the earlier the mother drinks in the pregnancy the faster and easier you can damage the fetus. Either way drinking at any time during the pregnancy can affect the baby it's just a matter of how much. Drinking the day you become pregnant or the day before the delivery depending on the amount of alcohol that was consumed can badly affect the unborn baby. Another thing that birth defects are dependent on are individual factors of the mother and the unborn child. The mothers body may also be weak with the alcohol letting it affect the baby a lot faster. Plus, the baby may be very weak itself either from alcohol or other factors like smoking . Thus causing the baby to become weak or developing F.A.S.. Other genetic factors or nutritional factors also play a big role on how the baby is going to be. These individual factors are very critical because doctors cannot tell a pregnant woman how much would be safe drink. The only way to prevent F.A.S. and F.A.E. is for a pregnant woman to abstain from the use of alcoholic beverages during her entire pregnancy. (http://www.heathtouch.com/level1/leaflets/csap/csap035.htm) Having a baby born with F.A.S. or a problem because of the alcohol can lead to many physical, cognitive and social deficits associated with F.A.S.. Another very important problem is pre-mature birth . Also miscarriages is also a possibility which must not be fun for the mother or the family. The pre-mature baby will most definitely have problems that can persist throughout adulthood. Some of these problems are stunted and slowed growth. The baby may also have lower set facial features. The child may also have a failure to thrive. It may not want to eat and may not grow well. The baby

The Jury Trial Stage of a Criminal Case

The Jury Trial Stage of a Criminal Case A criminal trial is scheduled if a defendant continues to plead not guilty after the preliminary hearing and plea bargain negotiations have ended. If pre-trial motions have failed to get evidence thrown out or the charges dismissed, and all efforts at plea bargaining have failed, the case proceeds to trial. At the trial, a panel of jurors determines if the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt or not guilty. The vast majority of criminal cases never get to the trial stage. Most are resolved prior to trial in the pre-trial motion stage or the plea bargain stage. There are several distinct phases of a criminal trial proceeding: Jury Selection In order to choose a jury, typically 12 jurors and at least two alternates, a panel of dozens of potential jurors are summoned to the court. Usually, they will fill out a questionnaire prepared in advance that contains questions submitted by both the prosecution and the defense. Jurors are asked if serving on the jury would present a hardship on them and they are usually asked about their attitudes and experiences that might lead them to be biased in the case before them. Some jurors are typically excused after filling out the written questionnaire. Questioning Potential Jurors Both the prosecution and the defense are then allowed to question the potential jurors in open court about their potential biases and their background. Each side can excuse any juror for cause, and each side is given a number of peremptory challenges which can be used to excuse a juror without giving a reason. Obviously, both the prosecution and the defense want to choose jurors who they think are more likely to agree with their side of the argument. Many a trial has been won during the jury selection process. Opening Statements After a jury is selected, its members get their first view of the case during the opening statements by the prosecution and the defense attorneys. Defendants in the United States are presumed innocent until proven guilty, so the burden is on the prosecution to prove its case to the jury. Consequently, the prosecutions opening statement is first and goes into great detail outlining the evidence against the defendant. The prosecution gives the jury a preview of how it plans to prove what the defendant did, how he did it and sometimes what his motive was. Alternate Explanation The defense does not have to make an opening statement at all   or even call witnesses to testify because the burden of proof is on the prosecutors. Sometimes the defense will wait until after the entire prosecutions case is presented before making an opening statement. If the defense does make an opening statement, it is usually designed to poke holes in the prosecutions theory of the case and offer the jury an alternate explanation for the facts or evidence presented by the prosecution. Testimony and Evidence The main phase of any criminal trial is the case-in-chef in which both sides can present witness testimony and evidence to the jury for its consideration. Witnesses are used in order to lay  a foundation for the admitting of evidence. For example, the prosecution cannot just offer a handgun into evidence until it establishes through witness testimony why the gun is relevant to the case and how it is linked to the defendant. If a police officer first testifies that the gun was found on the defendant when he was arrested, then the gun can be admitted into evidence. Cross-Examination of Witnesses After a witness testifies under direct examination, the opposing side has the opportunity to cross-examine the same witness in an effort to discredit their testimony or challenge their credibility or otherwise shake their story. In most jurisdictions, after the cross-examination, the side who originally called the witness can ask a question on re-direct examination in an effort to rehabilitate any damage that might have been done on cross-examination. Closing Arguments Many times, after the prosecution rests its case, the defense will make a motion to dismiss the case because the evidence presented did not prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Rarely does the judge grant this motion, but it does happen. It is often the case that the defense does not present witnesses or testimony of its own  because they feel they were successful in attacking the prosecutions witnesses and evidence during cross-examination. After both sides rest their case, each side is allowed to make a closing argument to the jury. The prosecution attempts to strengthen the evidence they presented to the jury, while the defense attempts to convince the jury that the evidence falls short and leaves room for reasonable doubt. Jury Instructions An important part of any criminal trial is the instructions that the judge gives to the jury before they begin deliberations. In those instructions, in which the prosecution and the defense have offered their input to the judge, the judge outlines the ground rules the jury must utilize during its deliberations. The judge will explain what legal principles are involved with the case, describe important concepts of law such as reasonable doubt, and outline to the jury what findings they must make in order to come to their conclusions. The jury is supposed to abide by the judges instructions throughout their deliberation process. Jury Deliberations Once the jury retires to the jury room, the first order of business is usually to elect a foreman from its members to facilitate the deliberations. Sometimes, the foreman will take a quick poll of the jury to find out how close they are to agreement, and get an idea of what issues need to be discussed. If the initial vote of the jury is unanimous or very one-sided for or against guilt, jury deliberations can be very brief, and the foreman reports to the judge that a verdict has been reached. A Unanimous Decision If the jury is not initially unanimous, discussions between jurors continue in an effort to reach a unanimous vote. These deliberations can take days or even weeks to complete if the jury is widely split or has one holdout juror voting against the other 11. If the jury cannot come to a unanimous decision and is hopeless split, the jury foreman reports to the judge that the jury is deadlocked, also known as a hung jury. The judge declares a mistrial and the prosecution has to decide whether to retry the defendant at another time, offer the defendant a better plea deal or drop the charges altogether. Additional Stages: Stages of a Criminal Case

Place Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Place - Research Paper Example In the book, Tropic of Chaos, the author, Christian Parenti talks about the core issues and critical problems associated with the harsh environment of East Africa, ‎US borders and mountain region located in Afghanistan, as well as the political turmoil with reference to Rio De Janeiro slums. The book presents quite a compelling description of the bloody war and political turmoil faced by the regions under discussion. This historical analytical account provides insight on episodes of terror and transformation through ‎fact-based knowledge in support of the new worlds where there could be melting glaciers meet beautiful rivers and ‎abundance of refreshing green grass. The author portrays a realistic for the readers that are ‎basically outside of the privileged US class. Parenti’s hardnosed journalism describes the issues ‎related to climate change from a personal perspective and divulges the discussion of the issues that were not explored so deeply by any other writer in such a detailed and analytical manner (Parenti 154). Globalization has impacted both positively and negatively on society and corporations, in which the negative impacts have hindered realization of human dignity and moral values (Nwaogaidu 9). A person’s confirmation of human dignity is influenced by the realization of moral development and its negative causes, and this is what drives an individual to seek achievement a world where an individual’s dignity is entirely valued. The poor in Nigeria thought that because of belonging to a certain ethnic group, a particular neighborhood, or a particular background of education, they were weak to stand up against their poverty. Subsequently, it was a question of whether the poverty was due to overpopulation or vice versa, or individuals became poor because of bearing too many children, or they had created large numbers of responsibilities on their own that they could not