Gambling and the Brain Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Gambling and the spiritWhy do gamblers bet more after they just lost a hand? Why do investors accommodate good money after bad? Why do people believe that a string of losses makes a win more potential? Why do so many people say that they will win their money back in the next hand? Is part of the woo of gambling its unpredictability? Or do we just look at it as a way to get rich quick? The answer to these questions whitethorn lie in the science of the conceiver. Some studies indicate that gamblers bet more after a loss because they are induced to fix an error. Their brains are cogent them theyve made a mistake and that they need to correct it (1). These studies could possibly explain other risky acts. If you ask many people why gamble, their response is it is same(p) a drug (5).Compulsive gambling is a behavior which may rely on brain circuits that evolved to help animals assess rewards important to their survival. Researchers have shew that those same circuits are used by the human brain to assess social rewards. They found that the brain systems that detect and evaluate much(prenominal) rewards generally run away outside of conscious awareness. The study said that much of what happens in the brain goes outside of conscious awareness. There are automatic brain circuits which affect activities such as gambling (2). However, this challenges prior notions which say that people make conscious choices about their everyday decision making. If people can get themselves to work unconsciously, how does the brain really know what it must pay conscious attention to? Also, how did evolution create a brain which makes such distinctions? Experiments performed on animals and humans are demo that the brain has evolved to shape itself according to what it e... ...times.com/3)Gambling has drug-like effect on brain,USA Today Newspaper articlehttp//www.usatoday.com/news/health/2001-05-24-gambling.htm4)GamblingLike Food and DrugsProduces Feelings of Reward in the Brain , Scientific American http//www.sciam.com/missing.cfm5)You Bet Gambling Is Addictive , Business Week Online http//www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/may2001/nf20010531_176.htm6)The Good, the Bad, and the Anterior Cingulate, Science Journal, Science snip http//www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/295/5563/2193a?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Gambling&searchid=1017881463081_295&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=0&fdate=3/1/2002&tdate=3/31/20027)The Medial Frontal Cortex and the Rapid Processing of Monetary Gains and Losses, Science Journal, Science Magazine http//www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/295/5563/2279

Gambling and the Brain Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Gambling and the BrainWhy do gamblers bet more(prenominal) after they just lost a hand? Why do investors throw good money after bad? Why do people believe that a string of losses makes a win more likely? Why do so many people say that they will win their money back in the next hand? Is type of the appeal of gambling its unpredictability? Or do we just look at it as a way to get rich quick? The practice to these questions may lie in the science of the brain. Some studies indicate that gamblers bet more after a loss because they be induced to fix an error. Their brains argon telling them theyve made a mistake and that they need to correct it (1). These studies could possibly explain other risky acts. If you ask many people why gamble, their receipt is it is like a drug (5).Compulsive gambling is a behavior which may rely on brain circuits that evolved to help animals assess rewards important to their survival. Researchers nurse found that those same circuits are used by the human brain to assess social rewards. They found that the brain systems that detect and evaluate such rewards largely operate outside of conscious awareness. The study said that much of what happens in the brain goes outside of conscious awareness. There are automatic brain circuits which assume activities such as gambling (2). However, this challenges prior notions which say that people make conscious choices about their everyday decision making. If people can get themselves to tame unconsciously, how does the brain really know what it must pay conscious attention to? Also, how did evolution create a brain which makes such distinctions? Experiments performed on animals and humans are showing that the brain has evolved to shape itself according to what it e... ...times.com/3)Gambling has drug-like effect on brain,USA Today Newspaper articlehttp//www.usatoday.com/news/health/2001-05-24-gambling.htm4)GamblingLike Food and DrugsProduces Feelings of Reward in the Brain , Scientific Ameri can http//www.sciam.com/missing.cfm5)You Bet Gambling Is Addictive , Business Week Online http//www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/may2001/nf20010531_176.htm6)The Good, the Bad, and the Anterior Cingulate, comprehension Journal, Science Magazine http//www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/295/5563/2193a?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Gambling&searchid=1017881463081_295&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=0&fdate=3/1/2002&tdate=3/31/20027)The Medial Frontal Cortex and the Rapid Processing of Monetary Gains and Losses, Science Journal, Science Magazine http//www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/295/5563/2279

Do you think murmurin judges is a hopless play? Essay

David Hares aim to paint a portrait on some of the chronic wrongs inwardly the dysfunctional, corrupt Justice system has definitely shown. As throughout this play we start to come to real numberise critical issues, and situations that often occur in real life such a prejudice, racism, sexism and stereotypes. However the ending of the play gives us a blurry light at the tunnel because although Sandra gives us a glance of hope as she says, I want the chief Superintendant. I wonder. Could I set out a word?, some people would have predicted the ending to of had a larger impact of justice. This canister be distressing and slightly worrying as it causes the reader to feel unsafe as we have to rely on the odd moral characters such as Irina, and Sandra. If Hares intensions were to reveal what goes on in the system, then he definitely portrayed that, but if his intentions were to reassure the audience that at that place is always hope then he didnt for fill that as it only made us feel worse.Hare also underlines the issues that the system were veneering in England in the 8os and early 90s such as the increased levels of immigration and terror of the (IRA), and highlights the prejudge situations against the Irish within the system. such as when Barrys showing a slight hatred towards the Irish which he says to Sandra, He was kind of Irish as well. He may find oneself to Hail form the north, but he did stand with a load of Micks outside the pub on Clampham Common every evening. I think we can guess his primary allegiance. Barry also threatened Travis and Fielding which the semtex plantation, here Hare is showing elements of the terror attacks of the 80s and 90s.The play is non hopeless in the respect that is has taught us not to automatically believe the high status of the people in the high courts, as we have been blind by there qualifications, there wealthy lifes and there high hierarchy in this world. We have learnt to respect and believe the image of stiff a uthority through social learning and we all forced to believe that there right. But most of these judges and barristers have never seen the real world, and have never considered the backgrounds of there clients, they think they know everything. Such as when Sir Peter makes up his own language towards criminals as the sub-average human, and says I have delineated dozens of people like him. Hes an ordinary, slightly sub-average human being who has landed himself in a dam stupid mess.In this play Irina also says, A lawyer should never be emotionally involved, this makes the audience feel that maybe there should be some fashion of relationship between the lawyer and the client, because otherwise why would the client trust the lawyer with there problems or the truth? The lawyer will never be able to find justice if they never know the truth behind there clients.An allegory of the justice system being portrayed as a factory of workers, as in each section of the justice system everything is everything is being passed on up the chain. Such as a manufactory chain from the prison house (primary work), the police force (secondary work) then the judiciary (tertiary work).I think the overall message is not hopeful as there is still a innocent man (Gerrard) as he reminds in prison and only to people Irina and Sandra trying to revolutionising the system against a whole battery of lawyers, police and prison officers.

Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meeting Reaction Paper Essay

The Narcotics Anonymous meeting which I attended was named 7 Days of NA which was rigid on 1212 North Wolfe Street at an organization c exclusivelyed Dees Place. Just as the Alcoholic Anonymous meeting previously attended, the location appeargond to be in a covert and quiet place to hold a support pigeonholing. We entered with the rear entrance, which seemed to be staged that way to secure participants identity. As forrader at the last support group I attended, I searched around the room to see again, a 12 steps guide posted on the wall, a relatively thick NA Basic Text textbook on the desk of the facilitator and this time there were more participants in attendance. There were approximately 20 woman and men in attendance, predominantly African Americans and two Caucasian women, hitherto a majority of the attendees were women. All of which we either their due to creation coquette ordered or there for the regular daily attendance. Before I was able to sit in my chair I was appro ached by a group of women, who appeared to be regular attendees, who greeted me with hugs and welcomed me to the meeting.After attending the AA support group, I felt as though I already knew what to expect and how to effectively receive the stories of how any(prenominal) of the individuals overcame substance abuse addiction. The meeting began with the facilitator reciting the Serenity Prayer, then she asked if anyone was new to the meeting. Again I was nervous and uncertain how to respond so I looked around merely did not stand up because I did not want to be acknowledged. They then made announcements, where I then witnessed three people receive account chains for being 1 week clean. Though to some being one week clean may not pose much significance, however to the individual who sustained their sobriety for that period of time, it was proven that it was an enormous step for the individual. To me I believe the use of the key chain is a great shot in motivating the individual to continue making progress towards their goals.I observed that when from each one mortal who had the floor recounted their stories of addiction, everyone appeared to have much admiration for the person sharing their story.I observed that before sharing their story they started with an introductory statement saying Hi, my name is Janet, and I am an addict and much standardised AA after each individual recounted their stories they thanked the group for having them while the grouped responded Thanks for sharing. This group, like AA appeared as though they were a unified family. Everyone listened to what each other had to say with no interruptions, no biases, and all appeared to be in support of one another. After listening to some(prenominal) stories of individuals suffering from addiction of various outlaw(a) substances to include mainly heroin, crack-cocaine and benzodiazepines, I was in awe as to how early some individuals began abusing drugs. Some of the participants started usi ng drugs as young as 12 geezerhood old while some have been abusing drugs for as long as 20 yrs. However many participants identified as being clean for several years to include one woman who was clean for 15 + years, which made me reflect on how strong these individuals must be to overcome such a powerful disease such as addiction. I noticed that though they have been clean for so long, they still dedicate themselves to attend NA meetings to do in maintaining their sobriety. accord to Gossop, Steward and Marsden (2007), it has been proven that attendance in 12 step self help groups including AA and NA meetings shows increased abstinence, improved psychological health outcomes and improved substance use outcomes. Expressing their stories of addiction to the group, for myself may appear to be seemingly hard and embarrassing but with a group of such sympathetic and supportive members, recanting their stories came with ease. Once again I was asked if I would like to share my story , however this time I was more prepared and quickly and respectfully declined the prospect to share a story with the group. Many participants engaged the group with stories of overcoming addiction or being sexually molested by family members as reasons behind their addiction. However all of their stories were compelling and empowering to the group of individuals who have seemed to endure some of the same sentiments as their fellow group mate.It appeared as if the individuals in the group even though that were speak to ordered appeared to be extremely engaged and very involved during the meetings. It seemed as though most who attended found peace and solice fromthe group during the NA meetings. As it stated by Krentzman, Robinson, Moore, et.al (2010), clients state that their top two reasons for attending NA meetings were to promote recovery/ sobriety and to find support betrothal and friendships. One thing that I learned from the NA group that just as in AA, family support deems to be an important function on the intentness of an addict and that the participation and involvement of family is detrimental in the discussion process for the addicts. In several of our readings many of the passages discussed the effects of family systems support as it pertains to substance abusers chemical substance addiction. The passages described the family system as being a detrimental part of the treatment process as well as for the treatment of the family as well.According to past studies, family involvement has aided clients in sustaining abstinence from drugs/alcohol and studies also show that those individuals with extensive family involvement in therapy reported higher numbers of clients being abstinent after six months as well as a much better family relationship (Crnkovic & Delcampo, 1998). After listening to all the stories of both feelings of drubbing and success, the environment felt so warm and opened. Everyone made each other feel like no matter how long someo ne has been addicted or whether someone has fallen victim to relapse, they were still a part of the family and they were there to aid that individual in getting through their demise. Everyone motivated and supported each other to succeed. At the close of the meeting, everyone stood in a circle while everyone embraced and recited the Serenity prayer again.I believe that NA is an extremely important opinion of the treatment and intervention process of addiction, because it allows the individual to open up to those who have similar issues and who can emphathize and relate to what that person may be going through because they have or are in the same predicament. Longitudinal studies has proven that having an affiliation with NA has a greater likelihood of sustaining abstinence, improved social mathematical operation and self efficiacy (Humphreys, Wings, McCarty , et al., 2004).As it relates to social work, advocating for self help groups such as Narcotics Anonymous are detrimental to the treatment process of addiction. These groups provide, advocacy, support and education to their clients which are all essential in supporting addicts in their treatment recovery. Working with these individuals requires empathy, understanding and comprehension of the diseasemodel of addiction, to be an advocate for not lone(prenominal) clients facing addiction, but for the surrounding urban communities which are consumed with the drug abuse epidemic daily.ReferencesCrnkovic, A., & DelCampo, R.L. (1998). A systems approach to the treatment of chemical addiction. Contemporary Family Therapy An International Journal, 20(1), 25-36. Gossop, M., Stewart, D., & Marsden, J. (2008). attending at Narcotics Anonymous and AlcoholicsAnonymous meetings, frequency of attendance and substance use outcomes after residentialtreatment for drug dependence a 5year followup study. Addiction, 103(1), 119-125.Humphreys, K., Wing, S., McCarty, D., Chappel, J., Gallant, L., Haberle, B., & Weiss, R. (200 4). Self-help organizations for alcohol and drug problems Toward evidence-based practice and policy.Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 26(3), 151-158.Krentzman, A. R., Robinson, E. A., Moore, B. C., Kelly, J. F., Laudet, A. B., White, W. L., & Strobbe,S. (2011). How alcoholics anonymous (AA) and narcotics anonymous (NA) work Cross-disciplinary perspectives. Alcoholism treatment quarterly, 29(1), 75-84.

Homosexuality in the Christian Church Essay

oddity is defined as consistent fantasy, interest and arousal toward a person of the same sex. discrepancy exists about the explanation of paederasticity. On the other hand, evidence supports the fact that homoeroticism has existed throughout the history of humankind and is not just a development of the twentieth century. Early psychoanalytic theory concluded that homosexuality developed from conflicts derived from early developmental disturbances. Investigators more in recent times give up explored neuroendocrine explanations as a cause of homosexual development. The results of these studies have been controversial.On the other hand, a lot of experts believe that sexual orientation, whether heterosexual or homosexual, is the consequence of a multifarious interface flanked by anatomic and hormonal influences during fetal growth. As investigators attempt to reply the question of etiology, others have worked to further define the incidence of homosexuality. Cognitive and common ex pansion throughout adolescence is an intricate progression characterized by the acquisition of a sense of self-separate from family, a sexual independence, the capacity for intimacy and the ability to be autonomous. (The Christian Science Monitor)For those young people who grow a homosexual orientation in a society based on heterosexuality, the changeover all the way through adolescence is expanded and expressed to some extent in a different way throughout the stage of acquiring a sexual uniqueness. Interviews with light and lesbian youth specify a normal pattern in which an adolescent accepts his or her own homosexuality. It is the sexual orientation toward people of the same sex. Homosexuality contrasts with heterosexuality, sexual orientation toward people of the opposite sex.People with a sexual orientation toward members of both sexes are called bisexuals. Female homosexuals are often called lesbians. In juvenile years, the word gay has been applied to both homosexual men a nd women. Homosexuality appears in almost all societal contexts within unlike community settings, socioeconomic levels, and cultural and dutiful groups. The number of homosexuals in the inhabitants is not easy to find out, and dependable data do not subsist. Nevertheless, current estimates propose that the term homosexual may relate to 2 to 4 percent of men. Estimates for lesbians are lesser.Not all people who slot in homosexual commotion essentially bar themselves as homosexual. (Zgourides, G. ) The move toward greater unity among Protestant denominations has continued in the 21st century however, within denominations there is still conflict between conservatives and moderates or liberals. One for the most part divisive issue is homosexuality. Denominations debate whether to ordain practicing homosexuals and whether to bar clergy from performing same-sex marriage ceremonies. Some church servicees blame all homosexual activity, temporary hookup others refuse to do so.Consequentl y, according to the same religious law that many of them use when religiously citing the gay and lesbian community, countless, reputable Christian leaders today, specially within African America, are in a word adulterers. However, you will not readily read of religious leaders publicly denouncing the brotherly and religious validity of their fellow splitd clergy who have married more than once, like you will their cry loud and spare not public cries relating to gay and lesbians desiring the live choice and right to marry only once.There exists no evidence that suggests Jesus ever discussed same-sex anything, publicly or privately, during his ministry. However, Christ, the bedrock of modern-day Christianity, did publicly condemn religious leaders of his age for granting bills of divorcement. However, wading through all the hype in the media these days one might just conclude the opposite. (Knutson, D. C. ) It is considered an act of insipid grace to say that the immeasurable, u nmerited grace available from God stops only at the sin of adultery. Does Gods amazing grace stay on only those sins of Old Testament law that are socially comfortable by todays standards?Let me put it another way Is divorce (absent of unfaithfulness) a sin? Many Christians might respond, and there is plenty of scripture to back that up. Then will God consider the bed of that remarried person defile? Most would probably respond, No, absolutely not, because of the New Testament law of grace, and there is plenty of scripture to support this. Christian churches historically have discriminated, excluded, and persecuted homosexuals on the rump of their sexuality. The emergence of new social attitudes and modernization has contributed to the easing of such taboos.However, the role of the church to defend minorities has led to serious conflicts between the gay community and the churchs prohibition of homosexuality. Within the Christian churches, homosexually oriented people have been ex cluded, marginalized and persecuted in the great majority of cases. The relatively few exceptions, which are known, are rarely taken into account. John Boswell, from whom the most important studies in this area have come, has found examples of liturgical forms for the union of same-sex partners from the churches of Asia Minor.Nevertheless, it must be said in general that in societies, which have morally proscribed homosexual relations, treated them as taboo or legally forbidden them, the sexual ethic upheld by the churches has not represented a divergent position. (Bauserman, R. ) New reflection by the churches in this area began only under the influence of a shift in social attitudes towards sexuality. The processes of modernization and secularization were accompanied by a removal of sexuality from the realm of taboo and a new respect for the private sphere.Furthermore, since the end of the nineteenth century modern sexual research has brought new insights into how the sexual iden tity of persons is formed. In addition, constitutional provisions guaranteeing the rule of law have made it accomplishable for the first time for homosexual people to organize and struggle publicly for the abolition of discriminatory laws and regulations. For the most part the churches have supported the decriminalization of homosexuality only hesitantly. Nor was this new orientation primarily the consequence of new biblical insights or spiritual experiences rather, the reconsideration was touched off by other factors.In the first place, personal encounter with gay or lesbian people, once they no longer had to conceal themselves but could begin to speak for themselves, was certainly important. As a rule, living alongside homosexual persons on the job, in the neighborhood, within the circle of friends or relatives leads to a reconsideration of traditional social or mortal prejudices. A second factor was the exposure of individuals or groups in a good number of churches and congrega tions to the investigations and findings of modern empirical research on sexuality.However, this research is academically institutionalized (usually in connection with faculties of medicine) in only a few countries and church declarations on sexual ethics draw explicitly on scientific sexological research only rarely and usually in passing. Finally, it should be noted that quite a few churches have accepted the decriminalization of homosexuality and the linguistic rule of non-discrimination against people because of sexual orientation through decisions by their competent governing bodies without however immediately reconsidering their own moral convictions and reservations on the issue.Churches time and again have a great deal of freedom for autonomous structuring of their ordinances and especially their offices. They should work at abolishing any remaining discrimination because of individual sexual orientation in the right to hold office and accept homosexual persons as office-be arers of course, as in the case of all office-bearers, according to the measure of their suitability for the growth of the community. (Boswell, J)

Definition of Nursing

care for is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, bar of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through diagnosis and treatment of human beings responses, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations, defines the American Nurses Association (ANA, 2003, p. 6).The six main features of care for are provision of caring relationship to put up health the different human experiences and responses to health and illnesses assessment of data and knowledge to understand each age group application of knowledge, judgment, and critical thinking to diagnosis and treatment advancement of professional nursing knowledge influences on social and public policy to promote social justice and the assurance of safe, quality, and evidence base practice (ANA, 2010, p. 9).Discussed will be the definitions and examples of human responses, nursing application, nursing actions, and nursing outcomes. Human Responses According to the AN A (2010), a human response is defined as, the responses of individuals to material or potential health problems, and which are the phenomena of concern to nurses (p. 10). Human responses are essentially the problems that nurses want to work on or solve. Human responses include any manifest need, concern, condition, event or fact of interest to nurses that may be the target of evidence-based nursing practice, states the ANA (2010, p. 0). Human responses are the target of evidence-based practice in relation to birth, health, illness, and termination (ANA, 2003, p. 71). An example is the care processes, which is seen in a patient who is unable to care for themselves where the nurse assumes this role to care for the patient (ANA, 2003, p. 71). Another example is physiological and pathophysiological processes much(prenominal) as respiration, circulation, and elimination (ANA, 2003, p. 71). Research is continuously investigating the best practice in caring for the bodys physiological process.For example, if a patient cannot urinate, a catheter is place to aid elimination. A protocol for insertion and how often the catheter should be changed has been determined from research making it evidence-based practice. Another example of human responses is physical and ruttish comfort, discomfort, and pain (ANA, 2003, p. 71). Pain medications and interventions to relieve pain are researched to find the best method to reduce pain and promote comfort. The last example of human responses is last and choice making abilities (ANA, 2003, p. 1). Through evidence-based practice, the nurse is able to use knowledge about the best standards of practice to critically think when caring for a patient. Nursing Theory According to the ANA (2010), nursing theory is defined as, a set of interrelated concepts, definitions, or propositions used to systematically describe, explain, predict, or control human responses or phenomena of interest to nurses (p. 10). Nursing theory is mainly the s cience and reason behind what evidence-based practice is founded on.Jean Watson was a mid-range theorist who focused on the theory of human caring (Cherry, 2011, p. 98). Her theory was summarized as, philosophy and science of caring and humanistic nursing this holistic outlook addresses the impact and importance of altruism, sensitivity, trust, and interpersonal skills (Cherry, 2011, p. 95). This theory serves as a basis for evidence-based practice because caring for others is basis of nursing. Also, trust and rapport has to be evident in the nurse-patient relationship to provide adequate care in ameliorate others. Caring promotes the notion that every human being strives for interconnectedness with other humans and with nature, explains Cherry (2011, p. 98). The goal is for the patient to experience balance and harmony in mind, body, and soul to overcome illness (Cherry, 2011, p. 98). Nursing Actions According to the ANA (2010), nursing actions are defined as the aims to, protect, promote, and optimize health to proscribe illness and injury to unbosom suffering and to advocate for individuals, families, communities, and populations. (p. 11).The ANA (2010) continues by stating, nursing actions are theoretically derived, evidence-based, and require well-developed intellectual competencies (p. 11). For example, one nursing action/intervention to promote health is better hand hygiene by nurses to prevent the spread of infection to patients. A nursing action/intervention to prevent injury is assessing a patients surroundings to jockstrap prevent falls such as keeping the bed in a low position, the room uncluttered, and having the patient ask for help before trying to get out of bed. Another xample of a nursing action/intervention to promote safety for the patient and aid in the prevention of medication errors is the five rights of medication administration which are the right patient, right dose, right route, right time, and right documentation. A nursing act ion/intervention to prevent needle stick injury in nursing is going to the needleless system by using retractable needles, not recapping needles, and always disposing needles in the sharps container. Most of the tasks and mathematical process have a protocol and has been researched.They have been proven as the best practice method, so it is known as evidence-based practice. Nursing Outcomes Nursing outcomes are basically the last part of the process and the final effects. The ANA (2010) explains this as The purpose of nursing action is to produce beneficial outcomes in relation to identify human responses. rating of outcomes of nursing actions determines whether the actions have been efficient. Findings from nursing research provide rigorous scientific evidence of beneficial outcomes of specific nursing actions (p. 11). Human responses are the initial location or problem.Nursing outcomes are the final effects after the nursing theories and actions have been implemented. The outc omes are reviewed to see if it should be implemented into practice or not. The conspiracy of the two is what defines evidence-based practice and if it is implemented then that has been found to be the best result to be put into practice. Conclusion Human responses, nursing theory, nursing actions, and nursing outcomes are essential characteristics in defining the nursing practice. Nurses are valued for their knowledge, skills, and caring to aid in improving the health of the public (ANA, 2003, p. ). Nurses are prudent for providing safe, effective, and quality care (ANA, 2003, p. 1). Nurses use human responses to anticipate actual or potential problems. They use nursing theories to assist in working on the actual or potential problem. They then implement an action to see if that will help to solve the problem. Then finally, the nurse will see if the outcome has been effective and if so they are helping to bring it into practice. Nursing will continue to be defined in the future us ing these characteristics of evidence-based practice.

Money Transfer in Ghana Case Study

The introduction of agile notes divine service is taking place in isolation further in parallel with the advent and expansion of other pecuniary electronic payments function. One of these is E-Zwich, an electronic platform that enables the loading and spending of electronic hard currency and a ilk acknowledges the settlement of inter- commit claims in addition to online proceeding. Others ar being made available over the Internet and through SMS-text messages. The government regards these go as commiting.They are strictly regulated and licensed by the Central Bank- Bank of Ghana under its branchless banking policy. Both MTN and ZAIN SIM cards are enabled to utilize the service but each new subscriber posits to register for the service at before it is activated. Upon activation, the wasting diseaser is provided with a secure electronic handbag where notes brush aside be disbursed or uploaded. The aimrs house either exchange electronic money for physical interchan ge (cash out) at shops, retainer banks and accredited agents or make use of it in making purchases or raptuss.Enabling a Cash Flow to Rural Areas In general, the most popular planetary money service is money transfer. The trend is for users in urban reachs to transfer funds to recipients in rural areas. Traditionally in Ghana, city dwellers often send money to members of their extended family surviving in rural areas. Other typical service include the purchase of mobile mobilize airtime, goods and services through electronic transfer of money from users wallet to the merchandisers account.Commenting on money transfer via mobile phones, Carl NiikoiAshie, an mcommerce (mobile commerce) specialist at Zain who works on evaporate, said The customers can cash in by loading money onto their ZAP wallet, then send the money to someone else on their phone in a simple process. The person receiving the money can cash out by press release to any of our outlets and exchanging the evalu e for physical cash. Were seeing tremendous elevateth in the service across the country, with to a greater extent cash-in done in the major cities while cash-outs are seen preponderantly in the small towns. Ashie sees a lot of evidence that his product is reaching Ghanas unbanked. Users do not need to slang a bank account to use the service. Currently, there are a lot of monetary transactions that take place outside the confines of the banks and it impart take a product like ZAP to fill the void while providing a secure, convenient and trustworthy channel of transaction, said Ashie. Some customers have also requested products that will allow them to use their ZAP wallets for savings and hence enjoy beguile on their savings, just as pertains in the traditional bank setting. Today, consumers have a garland of ways to send and receive funds or money transfers. Although using cash to send a money transfer is the most popular order for most people, to a greater extent and much people want additional options to send and/or receive funds on the internet, over the phone, and now, on their mobile phones. sprightly money transfer is simply another way to send money. It is a transfer of money to a receiver in which the funds are deposited into a mobile or virtual wallet. As the number of mobile phone subscribers in Ghana adjoins, so does the market for mobile money services.The majority of Ghanaians drop any formal bank account. mobile money could change the shape of financial transactions in the country. An estimated 80 percent of Ghanaians are unbanked meaning they result their transactions outside the banking sector with no access to financial services. Products like mobile money, that enable safe and secure money transfers without the use of a bank account, could have a major impact on this unserved segment of the population. roving money gives anyone with a mobile phone the ability to transfer money, make cash payments and conduct other financial tra nsactions over the phone. nimble money is a relatively new phenomenon in Ghana. It was first introduced by the telecom party MTN some years ago. MTN Mobile Money operates in partnership with nine banks. Currently, more than 2 million Ghanaians are registered as active users. MTN expects this number to grow as a result of the resources they have committed to educating subscribers about switching from the traditional mode of cash payments to electronic payments. Earlier this year, Zain became the second mobile operator to provide mobile money services through the introduction of ZAP, working with three banks.The coverage and accessibility that mobile services provide is of increasing interest to the financial services sector. Countries are considering mobile technology to reduce the cost of delivering financial services to clients beyond the reach of traditional financial services. ECONOMIC BENEFITS Mobile money transfer has some socio- economical benefits in Ghana, some these are F irstly Improved financial Access, consider a situation whereby a given job has to carry out a common payment operation, such(prenominal) as bill payment or funds transfer, and that operation demands transportation with all inconveniences given to it.If the same transportation cost were paid to a service that would effect the same payment on behalf of the company over the mobile phone or else, this more convenient manner brings about saving time and energy for other activities, in so doing increasing productivity by performing two tasks instead of one at the end of the day. It appears, therefore, that using your mobile phone to make payments represents to a very large extent convenience taken to another level.By exploiting the extensive reach of mobile communicates, the mobile industry has the opportunity to complement and extend remittance convey, make transferring money significantly more convenient and also bring many an(prenominal) people into the formal banking system. W ith more than 15,000,000 mobile phone subscribers in Ghana, the potential market for these new services is significant. Mobile money presents certain(a) wagess for Ghanaians without access to banks. Penetration of mobile services across the world is increasing rapidly. In 1990 there were just over 11m mobile phone users worldwide.Today, over 3 billion consumers own mobile phones. At the same time, the possibility to technically integrate mobile and financial services is becoming increasingly apparent. A recent survey conducted by Edgar Dunn & Company and the GSM Association (GSMA) predicts that, given an improved regulatory environment, in 2012 7% of the subscriber base in developed countries and 4% in developing countries will initiate at least one cross-border remittance. This equates to just over 248 million consumers in 2012 using mobile money transfer services.Financial access for the poor is still an issue in many developing countries. There are currently approximately only 0. 5 million bank branches globally with only 1. 4 million ATMs compared to over 3 billion mobile customers worldwide. The mobile device has the potential to extend access to financial services for the banked, but also for the under-served and unbanked parts of the population. This improved, financial access can be achieved by exploiting the extensive reach of mobile networks. Traditional remittance channels can be complemented and extended with mobile money transfer services.Thus making mobile money transfers significantly more convenient, bringing many remittances from informal channels into the formal system. Secondly it reduces the transaction cost of money transfers. Bank transfers and specialist remittance companies can be prohibitively expensive for small denomination transfers, restrain the ability of individual workers to distribute funds to a larger number of people and penalizing those sending small amounts. Retail premises and staff be append overheads, leading to hi gh commissions, especially for remittances under ghc100.It drastically contends down the cost of providing service to customers. A study carried out proved that there is a satisfying cut in customer care cost. This results from the fact that mobile money transfer eliminates the need for costly call centers and frees up customer service avail desk. In addition real-time information is provided to customers and employees. Using a mobile platform such as SMS fro simple task as payment reminders and funds transfer can reduce the burden on IT and personal resources. This has also been found to reduce cost and errors associated with paper-base operations.Significant reduction in operational costs means additional revenues can be invested in other areas of the business. Mobile technology can lower the cost of remittances as it removes the need for physical points of aim and tells a timely and secure method of transaction. This c oncept of mobile money is extremely attractive to low i ncome users in particular Mobile money transfer services can make remittances more affordable. Mobile technology lowers the cost of remittances as it removes the need for physical points of presence by banks and ensures a timely and secure method of transaction.This concept of mobile money is extremely attractive to low income users in particular. It reduces the transaction costs of financial services for the poor, especially those in rural areas where financial services seldom exist. Mobile money saves the cost of travel and time spent visiting the nearest town to access financial services. As noted in AudienceScapes research, mobile money provides people with a way to transfer money safely and keep (or even increase) their savings.From the customers perspective, mobile banking is relatively easy to use, and this is another advantage compared to traditional means of banking as well as electronic banking, given the fact that text messaging has become a common application of mobile p hones. Thirdly mobile money transfers drive growth and development. Mobile money has the potential to create jobs directly through hiring in the mobile phone companies, partner banks and the more than 4,000 merchants involved in Ghanas mobile money system.Key partners in the supplying of mobile money services include commercial banks, mobile phone operators shops, distributor shops and accredited agents. Jobs may be created indirectly as mobile money contributes to growth in Ghanas business and trade. If deployed successfully, mobile money could help individuals accouterments funds outside the banking system and channel them into the formal financial sector, thus making it easier to gather funds for investments. Not surprisingly, the general manager of Mobile Money-MTN, Bruno Akpaka, sees many benefits for Ghana as it continues adopting this service.Akpaka believes mobile money will help trade activities within the country and foster strong business partnerships. The creation of wide merchant footprints in places where traditional banks cannot go also contributes to bringing people into this new model of financial transactions, said Akpaka. MTN Mobile Money is bridging this existing huge severance amid the unbanked and the financial sector. Mobile-financial convergence creates socio-economic benefits. It is widely accepted, that increased access to mobile telephony in developing countries brings considerable benefits to the economies of the respective countries.It is estimated that an extra 10 mobile phones per 100 people in a typical developing country lead to an extra 0. 89 1. 210 percentage points of growth in GDP per person. In addition, remittances are an important engine for growth and development in developing countries. The World Bank estimates that reducing remittance commission charges by 2-5% could increase the electric current of formal remittances by 50-70%, boosting local economies. Reducing the cost of sending each individual remittance would encourage the delivery of lower value remittances, at smaller values than todays average transfer of ghc200.Financial regulators have the opportunity to use the development of mobilefinancial convergence to achieve their aims ? ? ? ? New services offered to consumers, i. e. mobile money transfer services (innovation) Cheaper prices through more efficient use of the mobile infrastructure (competition) Across all consumer groups (banked, under-banked, unbanked) Transition remittances from informal to formal remittance channels (more profile of money flows) Both the mobile and the financial industry benefit from this opportunity to cooperate in new ways providing innovative services to an increased customer base.The challenges facing the market. Access Access to the facilities to receive money is often limited, particularly for the poorest people in more rural areas where the banking sector is under represented and a largely cash-based economy exists. There are currently approxi mately only 0. 5 million bank branches globally with only 1. 4 million ATMs compared to virtually 2 billion mobile customers worldwide. Those who would benefit the most are therefore the least likely to benefit from remittances from migrant workers, locked out of their market through their social, economic and geographical position.Cost Bank transfers and specialist remittance companies are prohibitively expensive for small denomination transfers, limiting the ability of individual workers to distribute funds to a larger number of people and penalising the poor who can only afford to send small amounts. Retail premises and staff costs increase overheads, leading to a high fixed commission cost per remittance with industry revenues estimated at an average 15% per transaction, increasing to over 25% for remittances below ghc100.Handset operability There are a large number of different mobile phone devices and it is a big challenge for banks to offer mobile banking dissolving agent o n any type of device. Some of these devices support Java ME and others support SIM Application Toolkit, a WAP browser, or only SMS. Initial interoperability issues however have been localized, with countries like Ghana using portals like R-World to enable the limitations of low end java based phones, while focus on areas such as South Africa have defaulted to the USSD as a basis of communication achievable with any phone.The desire for interoperability is largely dependent on the banks themselves, where installed applications (Java based or native) provide better security, are easier to use and allow development of more complex capabilities similar to those of internet banking while SMS can provide the basics but becomes difficult to operate with more complex transactions. There is a myth that there is a challenge of interoperability between mobile banking applications due to perceived lack of common technology standards for mobile banking.In practice it is too early in the service lifecycle for interoperability to be addressed within an individual country, as very few countries have more than one mobile banking service provider. In practice, banking interfaces are well defined and money movements between banks follow the IS0-8583 standard. As mobile banking matures, money movements between service providers will naturally adopt the same standards as in the banking world.Security Security of financial transactions, being executed from some remote location and transmittal of financial information over the air, are the most complicated challenges that need to be addressed jointly by mobile application developers, wireless network service providers and the banks IT departments. The following aspects need to be addressed to offer a secure infrastructure for financial transaction over wireless network 1. somatic part of the hand-held device.If the bank is offering smart-card based security, the physical security of the device is more important. 2. Security of any thick-client application running on the device. In case the device is stolen, the hacker should require at least an ID/Password to access the application. 3. Authentication of the device with service provider before initiating a transaction. This would ensure that unauthorized devices are not connected to perform financial transactions. 4. User ID / Password authenticationof banks customer. 5. encryptionof the data being transmitted over the air. 6. Encryption of the data that will be stored in device for later / off-line analysis by the customer. One-time password(OTPs) are the latest tool used by financial and banking service providers in the fight againstcyber fraud . Instead of relying on traditional memorized passwords, OTPs are requested by consumers each time they want to perform transactions using the online or mobile banking interface. When the request is received the password is sent to the consumers phone via SMS.The password is expired once it has been used or once its scheduled life-cycle has expired. Because of the concerns made explicit above, it is extremely important that SMS gateway providers can provide a decent quality of service for banks and financial institutions in regards to SMS services. Therefore, the provision of service level agreements (SLAs) is a requirement for this industry it is necessary to give the bank customer delivery guarantees of all messages, as well as measurements on he speed of delivery, throughput, etc. SLAs give the service parameters in which a messaging solution is guaranteed to perform. Scalability & Reliability Another challenge for the CIOs and CTOs of the banks is to scale-up the mobile banking infrastructure to consider exponential growth of the customer base. With mobile banking, the customer may be sitting in any part of the world (true anytime, anywhere banking) and hence banks need to ensure that the systems are up and running in a true 24 x 7 fashion.As customers will find mobile banking more and mor e useful, their expectations from the solution will increase. Banks unable to meet the performance and reliability expectations may lose customer confidence. There are systems such as Mobile Transaction Platform which allow quick and secure mobile enabling of various banking services. Recently in India there has been a phenomenal growth in the use of Mobile Banking applications, with leading banks adopting Mobile Transaction Platform and the Central Bank publishing guidelines for mobile banking operations.Application distribution Due to the nature of the connectivity between bank and its customers, it would be impractical to expect customers to regularly visit banks or connect to a web site for regular upgrade of their mobile banking application. It will be expected that the mobile application itself check the upgrades and updates and download necessary patches (so called Over The Air updates). However, there could be many issues to implement this approach such as upgrade / synchron ization of other dependent components.Conclusion. For customers and businesses in the country, it is a unique platform to bring convenience in financial transactions to customers, an area which before this period had been beyond our domain and reach for those of us in Ghana and most of Africa. For the customer, its time and cost saving elements cannot be over accent and the earlier we adopt electronic ways of financial transactions, the better it will be for a whole society that would see a transformation, resulting from the ability to cut down on time lost accessing basic services like funds transfer amongst businesses and individuals.