Impacts of Adderall Abuse

Impacts of Adderall Abuse The Abuse of Adderall (Blog Project) By Monisha, Kyle, and Sashwat Ethics of Adderall With the recent surge in illegal Adderall use by students, there has been many concerns with the ethics of illicit use. There is three ways you could look at it. One way is the way that is currently being used now, in which we say this is an illegal aid to memory, alertness, and therefore we ban it. The second way to look at it would be that we use all kinds of aids in helping us be more alert and remember better, such as coffee, which is very useful, but it is not banned. In the future, there is a likely chance that new drugs come on the market, which enable us to be much more intelligent than we are right now, so are we then going to say We have no interest in being smarter?. The third was of looking at it would concern the grading of students. One group of students will be using Adderall and another wont, so does that mean we will be wanting better performance from the group that does use it in order to get an A? Will be then be lenient with regards to the non users in terms of a chieving a high mark? The ethics of the use is not black-and-white, such as its legality and risks involved. Whenever there is a discussion of the advantages of students using Adderall, there will be without a doubt a comparison to steroids. The comparison usually forms this logic: Adderall helps to get ahead in class. Steroids allow you to get ahead in sports. Consequently, Adderall is just like a steroid, and steroids are cheating, which in turn makes Adderall bad. The problem with this argument is that sports and academics are two distinct fields. In sports, the outcome of the match only matters to the players and those directly associated with them. However, cognitive enhancement is different in that it is not a zero-sum game. If a student uses Adderall to further his education, that in no way affects any other student. Furthermore, when discussing research, using cognitive enhancements to develop a breakthrough in cancer research is beneficial to society, unlike when athletes use steroids in a selfish attempt to improve their own statistics. The use of Adderall in research could benefit all of mankind. However, there is still some issues of fairness that arises when discussing the use of Adderall in university. The reason for this is that students are usually not marked in vacuum, but on a curve, so if a student uses the drug to get ahead of her classmates, it will directly affect the whole class. An easy solution to this would be to legalize the use of Adderall and let all student takes it. However, that leads to another issue of fairness, in that drugs are expensive, and the legalization of Adderall will turn into a socioeconomic problem. Wealthy student would be able to purchase more of the drug than poorer students, as a result further widening the gap between the wealth and the non-wealthy students. How does Adderall work? The drug is a combination of two stereoisomers of amphetamine, which is a stimulant, and related to street drugs such as methamphetamine and ecstasy. The chemical structure of Adderall is close to that of family of neurotransmitters called catecholamine, which includes dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. Adderalls similarity to these brain chemicals allows it to mimic the same actions. The catecholamine family functions in the area of the brain that is responsible for arousal and emotion. For example, dopamine has a crucial role in the pleasure and reward system, while norepinephrine is involved in the sympathetic nervous system, the same system that controls our flight or fight response. Finally epinephrine, also known as adrenaline, also partakes in the flight or fight response, and is involved in the rush we feel when exited or nervous. By being a catecholamine agonist, Adderall recreates these same sensations by binding to the receptors for epinephrine in the adrenal gland, and norepinephrine and dopamine in the brain. In addition, Adderall also blocks transporters the remove catecholamine to end the response, and instead allows for some reverse transport of the endogenous catecholamines out of the neuron and into the receptor so they too can bind. Adderall essentially overloads the brain with chemicals the leave us alert, ecstatic, and ready to take the day. But, like any drugs, Adderall also has some negative side effects. By causing an intense arousal, the drug can lead to anxiety and insomnia, which has the chance to manifest into a schizophrenia like psychosis . The side effects are not only limited to the brain. Adderall can affect the body as well, causing an increase in blood pressure and an elevated heart rate. This is not good for people who already have pre-existing heart problems. Finally, like all drugs, such as caffeine, Adderall has the prospective of being addictive, which is why it is a Schedule II Controlled Substance, in the same group as opium, methamphetamine, cocaine, and oxycodone, which all have a high risk of dependence. WHAT IS ADHD? ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder is a very common psychiatric brain disorder. It is usually diagnosed between the ages of 7 and 12. Once it has been diagnosed, there are medications (which will be discussed later) to help deal with it, but there are no found cures to get rid of it. About 50% of people loose it as they age into their adulthood, but there are no ideas as to why this happens. It affects about 6% of children and therefore 3% of adults. ADHD slows the maturation of certain parts of the brain, which help with, strategic thought, making quick decisions and of course focusing. The symptoms first begin to show up as a child or young adolescent. When being clinically diagnosed, it is very hard to do so due to the fact that many people do not like to focus on things that bore them. It is difficult to tell whether someone is not focusing because they can’t or because they don’t want to. With that being said, some other symptoms include: loosing things, not following instructions, and not being organized. Not all of these symptoms always apply, and often times very few of them do. The Stigma There is an existing stigma that people with ADHD are less intelligent than others who do not have it. Intelligence is defined as: â€Å"1) the ability to adapt to the environment and 2) the ability to learn from previous experience.† People who have ADHD often do score lower on tests, but it has nothing to do with intelligence. It is just the fact that a test requires constant mental effort, which is something people with ADHD have trouble with. On a long test, people with ADHD are easily distracted and therefore may lose time on a test that way, or speed through questions without wanting to put in as much time and effort as someone who doesn’t have it. If tests were shorter than there would be very little difference in test scores of people with and without ADHD. When testing for ADHD, kids are given tests, which involve a wide range of problems and it is found that problems that can be answered in one step (math or patterns) are done very well, compared to longer que stions (English based). The Solutions (Drug Free) As with many disorders, there are a multitude of ways to combat it, without the use of drugs. One simple solution is exercise. Exercising is a helpful way to help release stress physically, and to help combat ADHD. By releasing stress, kids are more likely to sit down and focus, whether it is studying or taking a test. Additionally playing sports encourages them to focus on something that they love or are passionate about, and by having this as an example, it teaches them that focusing is possible even if it is on something they don’t like as much. Additionally, there is another method to help people with ADHD focus. This is known as mindfulness based cognitive therapy. MBCT is a therapeutic way to help people with ADHD relax and focus. It focuses on being aware of their surroundings and being one with their body and mind. People who begin this meditation can begin with as little as 30 seconds per day, just sitting somewhere quiet and meditating. This can move upwards past 30 minutes, if it works. When silently meditating, it works best when the person envisions them self succeeding at something whether it is a test, presentation, or just another aspect of their life (staying organized). By imagining themself succeeding in a peaceful environment, it often actually translates to the real world. Adderall Controversies While Adderall can be a very helpful drug to people who suffer from ADHD, it can also be quite harmful as well, especially to people who take it without having ADHD. Because Adderall is helpful when it comes to focusing, some people, who need to focus in their daily lives, take it without the need to. This is problematic because Adderall was designed for ONLY people who have ADHD, not for everyone. Unnecessarily taking Adderall is especially popular with students who are in high school or post secondary learning institutions. Adderall greatly increases the amount of time one can focus at once, and the quality of the focus. Therefore, illegal Adderall distribution and consumption is a problem, especially in high-end universities and colleges. Students, who have trouble focusing, or simply do not want to, may take Adderall to help them focus, when stuffing for a test or exam. In 2006 researches from the University of Kentucky found out that 34% of the people they interviewed admitted t o illegal Adderall usage to help gain an edge in their classes. Additionally, an interview with one student, he said that Adderall not only increased the quality of his study time, but the quantity as well. He stated that he achieved the highest marks in his class and got perfect on his final exam, due to Adderall. The previous year when he hadn’t taken it, he did not achieve nearly as good results. Another study conduced by the University of Southern California stated that of the students they found taking illegal Adderall, 95% of them had simply faked the signs and symptoms in order to receive the prescription. With numbers like this it is clear that Adderall should be harder to get, and the diagnosis should be more thorough. Abuse and Problems If Adderall helps people with ADHD and helps people who don’t have it, isn’t it a good thing? It’s a win-win for everyone and higher test results for everyone. WRONG. Improper use of Adderall can lead to harsh side effects, which may all together counteract the improved studying. Just because it helps with studying doesn’t mean it helps with other aspects of your life as well. Improper Adderall use can lead to severe sleeping problems, including, not being able to fall asleep, not being able to stay asleep, and shortened REM cycles. This would definitely counteract better studying, and would take a toll on the body as well. Additionally, some other symptoms of Adderall abuse include: headaches, stomachaches, sweating, nausea, changes in sex drive, and as mentioned earlier, sleeping problems. Furthermore, with increased consumption of Adderall without a prescription can lead to: blurred vision, seizures, shaking limbs, and paralysis. With all these risks it is clear that Adderall is not a beneficial way to achieve higher test scores.

Advanced Network Management Essay

Short for remote monitoring, RMON is a network management protocol that allows network information to be gathered at a single workstation. The RMON has been specially designed to help network manager to understand the operation of the network as a whole and as an individual devices (switches, routers, hosts,) and how its affect its mode of operation. RMON provides network administrators with more freedom in selecting network-monitoring probes and consoles with features that meet their particular networking needs. RMON was defined by the user community with the help of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It became a proposed standard in 1992 as RFC 1271 (for Ethernet) and then became a draft standard in 1995 as RFC 1757, effectively obsoleting RFC 1271. The RMON standard was developed in order to resolve issues that other management protocols were not able to handle it properly and can be supported by hardware monitoring devices (known as â€Å"probes†) or through softw are or some kind of combination. â€Å"For example, any vendor LAN switches includes software in each switch that can trap information as traffic flows through and record it in its MIB. A software agent can gather the information for presentation to the network administrator with a graphical user interface. A number of vendors provide products with various kinds of RMON support. RMON collects nine kinds of information, including packets sent, bytes sent, packets dropped, statistics by host, by conversations between two sets of addresses, and certain kinds of events that have occurred, alarms, history, statistics and much more. A network administrator can find out how much bandwidth or traffic each user is imposing on the network and what Web sites are being accessed. Alarms can be set in order to be aware of impending problems†. (Rouse, 2010) An RMON probe can sometimes be management appliance software or could be in the device that is managed. They can also reside near monitored network elements. The probe analyzes RMON information such as traffic and alarms. RMON probes delegate certain tasks such as collecting statistics, periodic polling, subscribing to certain notifications, and generating threshold-crossing alerts through specific configuration of MIBs. Some advantages of utilizing RMON probes are that they reduce SNMP traffic as well as reduce t he processing load of the clients. They also use periodic polling instead of continual polling which also reduces processes. (Clemm, 2007) References * Clemm, A. Network Management Fundamentals Edition 1 (1st ed). Pearson Learning Solutions. Retrieved from http://devry.vitalsource.com/books/9781256084068/id/ch02lev2sec9 * Waldbusser, S. ((2000, May)2000, May). Rfc 2819. Retrieved from http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2819 * Rouse, M. ((2010, November)2010, November). Rmon (remote network monitoring). Retrieved from http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/definition/RMON * Javvin. (n.d.). Rmon: remote monitoring mibs (rmon1 and rmon2). Retrieved from http://www.javvin.com/protocolRMON.html

Dracula Essay

Texts such as the novel Dracula, and the film Interview with the Vampire, are often shaped by the values and attitudes within society at the particular time in which it was created. As a result, the context plays a major role in the construction of a text. In Dracula, a novel in epistolary format set and published in 1897 by Bram Stoker, not only do the concepts of sexuality, religion, family, technology, class and gender roles reflect the way they were viewed in the Victorian era, but the actual form of the text itself, a long novel in a book form, mirrors the style of Victorian texts due to the limited technology available. Similarly, in the film Interview with the Vampire directed by Neil Jordan, the different and changing concepts of religion, sexuality, class, family and gender roles from the four different contexts; the 1791 slave period, the 1870s in France, the 1980s in America and the 1994 context, are reflected in the film in a DVD format. In Dracula, the representation of woman as belittled and with limited roles mirrors the rigid expectations of the Victorian era. During the 1800s, women were confined to narrow gender roles, as represented by the virgin/whore dichotomy substantiated through two of Dracula’s key characters, Mina and Lucy. The figure of Mina displays the innocence, loyalty and purity expected from women of the time: â€Å"she is one of Gods women†¦ † (P. 226), whilst Lucy’s character illustrated the non-virtuous figure as she appears as flirtatious: â€Å"you will think me a horrid flirt†¦ † (P. 70), and gives us the subtle impression that she has a hidden desire to break out of the social constraints of the Victorian period: â€Å"why can’t they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all the trouble? †(P. 70). Due to Lucy’s desire to break out, she must be punished in order to restore Victorian standards: â€Å"Arthur took the stake and the hammer†¦ hen he struck with all his might†¦ there, in the coffin lay no longer the foul Thing†¦ † (P. 259/60). This use of imagery implies that Arthur returns Lucy to a state of purity, passivity and innocence, as well as signifies the power and dominance males had over females at this particular time due to the patriarchal tendencies and views of the Victorian society. The actions of Dracula constantly using his powers to fulfil his desires also symbolizes this male dominance and superiority over women: â€Å"his right hand gripped her by the back of the neck, forcing her face down on his bosom†¦ terrible resemblance to a child forcing a kitten’s nose into a saucer of milk to compel it to drink. † (P. 340) Stocker uses strong imagery to evoke this. Comparably, in Interview with the Vampire, the positioning of an African American woman as a maid, as exemplified by the close up shot of Yvette’s hand clearing away Louis’ plate, reflects the gender roles in the 1800s slavery period. During this period, white men had great power over their African American slaves. As a result, many took advantage of them. The panning camera shot progressing up Yvette’s body from Louis point of view reflects the temptation many men endured to satisfy their sexual urges. In this case, Louis could not resist and took a bite, symbolizing penetration. The extreme close up shot of Yvette’s face exposes the pain and suffering many belittled African American women experienced, whilst the act of Louis putting his hand over her mouth and killing her due to her screaming symbolizes the concern of other people becoming knowledgeable about such a dirty action of a prosperous, well respected white man. Conversely, the involvement of two men, Louis and Lestat, in the growth of Claudia’s vampirism reflects the contemporary context of the increasing role of males in society as well as in their children’s life: â€Å"you became my mother, and my father†¦ †. The freely expressed conversation between Yvette and Louis also mirrors the contemporary context, as back in the 1800s, a slave would never talk to their master without been spoken to first. In Dracula, the constant mentioning of religious phrases and religious symbols, such as the crucifix and wafer indicates the importance of religion in the Victorian culture even though the introduction of various forms technology began to change this. This change in Victorian values is represented by the conflict between Dracula and the four men; Jonathan, Quincey, Dr. Seward and Dr. Van Helsing. The character of Dracula symbolizes the changes commencing, whilst the men symbolize Victorian sensibilities- belief in the power of God:â€Å"The Professor stood up and, after laying his golden crucifix on the table†¦ Dr. Helsing went on†¦ †but we, too, are not without strength†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ † (P. 286). This battle between good and evil ends with the defeat of Dracula, allowing the return of the important ideals of the Victorian culture: â€Å"after all, these things- traditions†¦ are everything†¦ † (P. 287) The importance of religion and the idea of the vulnerability to evil of those not religious in the Victorian era is emphasised when an old women offers a crucifix to Jonathan after learning he was going to meet Count Dracula: â€Å"she then rose and dried her eyes, and taking a crucifix from her neck offered it to me†¦ (P. 6). Throughout the text, the demonic figure of Dracula is conveyed to be the opposite of Christ as exemplified when he creates â€Å"one of the greatest and suddenest storms†¦ † (P. 91) to aid his arrival into the harbor. This is the complete opposite to the act of Jesus quietening the storm when he was at sea with his disc iples. Similarly to Dracula, the representation of religion in Interview with the Vampire also reflects the way it was viewed its various contexts. The close up shot of Armade saying â€Å"I know nothing of God, or the Devil†¦ illustrates how the belief and understanding of religion has significantly dropped in the 1994 contemporary context. The mid shot of Louis saying â€Å"actually I’m quite fond of looking at crucifixes† elucidates the lack of power religion has in today’s society. The practising of Voodoo as shown in a mid shot of the African Americans waving dolls near a fire accompanied by yelling and chanting, symbolizes the importance of religion and warning off evil during the slave trade in a still highly religious society. Likewise, the use of a religious symbol as shown the mid shot of Armade holding the young girl’s arm up in a similar way to Jesus on the cross whilst performing on stage, is used to signify that death and the resurrection, though as a vampire, is about to occur. In Dracula, the exemplification of sexuality reflects the controversial topics of the rigid Victorian era. During this period, women were belittled and suppressed. If a woman was to be sexually assertive, it was deeply frowned upon by society as there was a great emphasis on the importance of encouraging chastity and innocence of ladies. At the commencement of the novel Lucy is evidently a sexual women: â€Å"My dear Mina, why are men so noble when we are so little worthy of them? † (P. 70), however her full expression of sexuality is released when she is transformed into a vampire: â€Å"Come to me Arthur†¦ my arms are hungry for you. Come and we can rest together†¦ †. As aforementioned, punishing Lucy for being sexually forward will restore Victorian order and put her back in her rightful place: â€Å"She is not a grinning devil now- not anymore a foul thing for all eternity†¦ † (P. 261). During the Victorian period, homosexuality was considered a serious matter, thought to be evil and wrong, and was often punished by time in jail or even death. In Dracula, there are many metaphoric references to homosexuality, the first incident being when Jonathan cuts his cheek shaving: â€Å"I felt a hand on my shoulder†¦ the man was close to me†¦ the cut bled a little†¦ his eyes blazed with a sort of demoniac fury, and he suddenly made a grab at my throat†¦ † (P. 30). This sees Dracula tempted to take a bite, therefore symbolizing the temptation of penetration. Analogously to Dracula, the film Interview with the Vampire also conveys the sexual attitudes of its various contexts. The close up shot showing the homoerotic tensions between Louis and Armade accompanied by emotional classical music reflects the 1990s context in which people were beginning to openly express their homosexuality during the Gay Rights Movement. During this period, many gay couples also began to adopt with the intention of creating a family. This is evoked in the novel when Lestat revives Claudia and turns her into a vampire: â€Å"you’re mine and Louis’ daughter now†¦ †, with the purpose of creating â€Å"one happy family†¦ . During the 18th century in America, the discussion and about sexuality and the act of kissing in public was beginning to be socially accepted as symbolized by the mid shot of Louis and Lestat kissing a girl on a chair whilst in the public’s view. Through analysing the novel Dracula and the film Interview wit h the Vampire, it is evident that the context plays a major role in the construction of a text. Many of the social meanings of a text reflect not only the values and attitudes of society at a particular time, but also the concerns and fears as exemplified through the studied texts.

Practice Speaking English Exercise

Here is a text to help you speak some English online - even if its not with a real person. You will hear the lines you see below. There is a pause between each sentence. Thats where you come in. Answer the questions and have a conversation. Its a good idea to read through the conversation before you begin, so youll know which questions to ask to keep up with the conversation. Take note that the conversation focuses on using the present simple, past simple and the future with going to. Its a good idea to open the audio file below in another window, so you can read the conversation as you participate. Practice Conversation Transcript Hi, my names Rich. Whats your name? Nice to meet you. Im from the United States and I live in San Diego in California. Where are you from? Im a teacher and I work online every day. What do you do? I like playing golf and tennis in my free time. How about you? At the moment, Im working on my website. What are you doing right now? Im tired today because I got up early. I usually get up at six oclock. When do you usually get up? I think its great youre learning English. How often do you study English? Did you study English yesterday? How about tomorrow? Are you going to study English tomorrow? OK, I know that studying English isnt the most important thing in the world! What else are you going to do this week? Im going to attend a concert on Saturday. Do you have any special plans? Last weekend, I went to visit my friends in San Francisco. What did you do? How often do you do that? When is the next time you are going to do that? Thank you for talking to me. Have a nice day! There is also an ​audio file of this conversation. Example Conversation to Compare Heres an example of the conversation you may have had. Compare this conversation to the one you had. Did you use the same tenses? Were your answers similar or different? How were they similar or different?   Rich: Hi, my names Rich. Whats your name?Peter: How do you do. My names Peter.   Rich: Nice to meet you. Im from the United States and I live in San Diego in California. Where are you from?Peter: Im from Cologne, Germany. Whats your job? Rich: Im a teacher and I work online every day. What do you do?Peter: Thats interesting. Im a bank teller. What do you like doing in your free time? Rich: I like playing golf and tennis in my free time. How about you?Peter: I enjoy reading and hiking on the weekends. What are you doing now? Rich: At the moment, Im working on my website. What are you doing right now?Peter: Im having a conversation with you! Why are you tired? Rich: Im tired today because I got up early. I usually get up at six oclock. When do you usually get up?Peter: I usually get up at six. At the moment, Im learning English at an English school in town. Rich: I think its great youre learning English. How often do you study English?Peter: I go to classes every day. Rich: Did you study English yesterday?Peter: Yes, I studied English yesterday morning.   Rich: How about tomorrow? Are you going to study English tomorrow?Peter: Of course Im going to study English tomorrow! But I do other things! Rich: OK, I know that studying English isnt the most important thing in the world! What else are you going to do this week?Peter: Im going to visit some friends and were going to have a barbecue. What are you going to do? Rich: Im going to attend a concert on Saturday. Do you have any special plans?Peter: No, Im going to relax. What did you do last weekend? Rich: Last weekend, I went to visit my friends in San Francisco. What did you do?Peter: I played soccer with some friends.   Rich: How often do you do that?Peter: We play soccer every weekend.   Rich: When is the next time you are going to do that?Peter: Were going to play next Sunday. Rich: Thank you for talking to me. Have a nice day!Peter: Thank you! Have a good one!