The Lost World Essay Research Paper Jurassic free essay sample

Top Ranking U.S. Presidents

The head of state and administration of the United States of America falls under the support of the President who manages the official part of the government also fills in as the president of the Armed Forces. Publicizing We will compose a custom exposition test on Top Ranking U.S. Presidents explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More Although is it generally expected that the mainstream vote chooses the President, it is the cryptic appointive schools that decides/chooses the Presidency. During the twentieth and 21st century 19 men have expected this position beginning with Theodore Roosevelt (1901 - 1909) to the current/officeholder President, Barack Obama (2009 †). As far as achievements, character, authority, and individual appearance I rank the most powerful Presidents (in a term, progressive way) as follows: Theordore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Woodrow Wilson, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, James Car ter, and Barack Obama. The two Roosevelts and Kennedy are discernable on account of their abundant character which combined with their initiative capacity positioned them as profoundly powerful. Theodore Roosevelt’s hearty character alongside his non-political interests a tracker, adventurer, author, warrior, and naturalist complemented his notoriety. His authority method and approaches were represented by a central doctrine †The Big Stick Ideology. In rewording, one will achieve their target with calm words however a noticeable/undetectable huge stick. With his Square Deal arrangement, the senior Roosevelt was the principal nineteenth century President to progress/advance American maritime military may (The Great White Fleet). Serving two terms successively, Franklin D. Rooselvelt (also called FDR), came to office during a period of incredible financial change around the world (The Great Depression) too the World War II. He initiated/propelled the New Deal which mixed a nd realized financial recuperation by means of an assortment of complex projects (inundation of government employments to battle joblessness) and changes (guideline of Wall Street, banks, and so on.). Until this point, he is the main American to be chosen for the Presidency multiple terms, passing on in office at the beginning of his fourth term.Advertising Looking for exposition on history? We should check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Kennedy’s young quality and appeal slung him into the classification of most genuinely alluring President. During his short Presidency five significant occasions happened which would have a national too worldwide effect, even to this day: The of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the development of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race Program, the African American Civil Rights Movement,â and the early periods of the Vietnam War. Kennedy worked out/showed dynamic deftness and clung to an authority ideology that he as a matter of first importance must be responsible and those under his support must be responsible to him. He accepted that a country was distinctly as solid as it residents make it to be and through different projects (The New Frontier, the Peace Corps, and so forth.) proposed to have a national too worldwide impact, he was resolved to annihilate the four significant ills of making †oppression, neediness, ailment, and war. Deplorably, he is one of four American Presidents to be assonated while in office. Wilson, Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, and Carter are persuasive due to the different belief systems and arrangements/programs they propelled. Wilson, by means of his Wilsonian philosophy, established the framework for American mediation into worldwide through militarism to advance vote based system. Right up 'til today this argumentative way of thinking t administers American Foreign Policy. The Truman and Eisenhower organizations established the framework for the atomic weaponry develop and America being at the bleeding edge. Johnson encouraged the advancement of local approaches/projects to dispose of neediness and racial segregation (Great Society, Medicare, Civil Rights Act of 1964, and so on.). The commencement of U.S./China conciliatory relations can be authorize to Nixon. Carter’s differentiation is the Camp David Accords/The Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty. Barack Obama’s signature mark is that he is the primary African-American to be chosen for the workplace of the Presidency. This paper on Top Ranking U.S. Presidents was composed and put together by client Winston Z. to help you with your own examinations. You are allowed to utilize it for research and reference purposes so as to compose your own paper; be that as it may, you should refer to it in like manner. You can give your paper here.

Molecular Genetics: Catching the Criminal Using Electrophoresis

Presentation An example of DNA found in a wrongdoing scene was given along five suspects. Their DNA was then handled utilizing limitation compounds and Agarose Gel Electrophoresis. The target of this lab was to coordinate a lawbreakers DNA to a wrongdoing scene utilizing limitation catalysts EcoRI and Pstl with Agarose gel electrophoresis. Limitation compounds cut DNA at a particular base pair site perceived by the chemical, which at that point transforms one single strand of DNA into many divided strands of DNA.EcoRI perceives and cuts the palindromic base pair succession GATTC while Pstl perceives and cuts the palindromic base pair grouping CTGCAG. Agarose gel electrophoreses isolates these divided DNA by their size. The adversely charged DNA travels through the Agarose gel to the emphatically charged finish of the gel. The littler pieces travel through the gel all the more rapidly permitting a direct perspective on the divided DNA when the procedure is finished. Since every indivi dual DNA will be cut into various size pieces when limitation proteins are applied we can coordinate one of the suspects to the wrongdoing scene DNA sample.This process empowers an individual’s DNA to be coordinated, much like a unique finger impression, to an example of obscure DNA. Strategies A compound blend of EcoRl and Pstl was included 10 microliters at once to the wrongdoing scene test and suspect examples one through five each containing 20 microliters of DNA. Another pipet was utilized for each move of the protein blend to guarantee that there was no cross pollution of the suspects. To ensure the catalyst responds with the DNA the six examples blended in with protein were then centrifuged. You can peruse additionally King v CogdonThe tests were hatched at 37  ° C for 45 minutes, after brooding 5 microliters of color were added to each example. During this time an Agarose gel was thrown utilizing a 8 well brush. The Agarose gel was set in the electrophoresis chamber with the wells at the cathode end and 275mL of electrophoresis support was included. In the main well 10 microliters of Hindlll DNA marker was included. This marker was given colored. In the accompanying wells 20 microliters of each example was included, Table 1 gives the path data. The volts were set at 120 Volts and the example was electrophoresed for 30 minutes.After the gel was electrophoresed it was moved into a holder and colored with Fast Blast DNA stain so the DNA parts could get noticeable to the eye. Results Figure 1 beneath shows the examples once they have been colored. To the unaided eye no doubt the nearest match to Lane 2 (the wrongdoing scene) would be Lane 4 (Suspect 2) however to check th is end you have to compute the size of the groups. To think about the examples the size of every marker band was estimated from the well to the band in mm and charted with the given size of each band as appeared in Graph 1.In the primary section of Table 2, Hindll size in base sets was given, to locate the surmised size of different examples the separation of each band was connected as a x-worth to the y=-142x+13214 condition discovered utilizing exceed expectations on the best fit line on Graph 1. Contrasting the wrongdoing scene section with suspects one through five it was discovered that Suspect 3 was the lawbreaker. His DNA parts were of comparable size and voyage a comparative separation through the electrophoresis gel. Conversation There is an entirely genuine blunder with the computations of size in base combines as introduced in Table 2.Some of the base pair lengths were seen as negative numbers which doesn't appropriately connect to the proposed size of the groups. This bl under was well on the way to have occurred in the diagramming of the marker. In the outcomes it was talked about that Suspect 3 is destined to be the crook however this outcome was found by ignoring the negative qualities. On the off chance that the blunder was revised and the right size estimations were seen the presume found as the criminal may have been different.Since the qualities for size had a mistake in them the criminal couldn't be emphatically recognized. End In this lab unmistakably blending limitation chemicals with gel electrophoresis makes it conceivable to coordinate a DNA test to a person. Applying the limitation compound cuts every DNA grouping into a novel size and measures of sections for each example. This one of a kind blend of arrangements is the thing that makes it conceivable to run the pieces through an electrophoresis gel that isolates the sections into a one of a kind â€Å"fingerprint. Albeit a suspect was not appropriately recognized to the wrongdoing s cene test, it is clear how it is conceivable to distinguish a lawbreaker. Table 1-This table records every path of the electrophoresis well and what test was pipeted into it and the amount of each example in microliters. Path one beginnings on the left hand of the well. Chart 1-The diagram gives a disperse plot of the marker in path 1, in a log scale, straight fit with a best fit line through it. The condition for incline discovered was y=-142x+13214.

Exploring Traumatic Brain Injury in Children Essay -- Medicine

Horrendous mind injury (TBI) is one of the main general wellbeing concerns today. The Center for Disease and Control (2010) detailed that 1.7 million people continue TBI every year). Besides, TBI records to a third (30.5%) of all injury related passings in the United States. The individuals who are well on the way to support TBI are kids (0-4 years), more seasoned teenagers (15-19 years) and more seasoned grown-ups (65+ years) (CDC, 2010). This examination will inspect the commonness, conclusion, medicines, and visualization of awful mind wounds in kids. Cerebrum wounds can be characterized into gentle, moderate, and extreme classes. The most regularly utilized appraisal for characterizing TBI seriousness is by utilizing the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). This scale surveys individual’s level of cognizance dependent on verbal, engine, and eye reactions to upgrades. Scientists Kung et al (2010) broke down the segments of Glasgow trance state scale (GCS) from 27,625 TBI cases in Taiwan. The relationship between's the endurance rate and certain eye (E), engine (M) and verbal (V) score mixes for GCS (scores of 6, 11, 12, ) were seen as factually huge. The discoveries demonstrate that the three major components involving the Glasgow extreme lethargies scale (E, M, and V) independently and in certain mixes are prescient of the endurance of TBI patients. The scientists attest that this perception is clinically helpful when a total GCS score can't be gotten while assessing TBI patients. Confirmative neuroimaging examines assumes an essential job in TBI conclusion, guess, and choosing what medications to give. CT is the favored technique for appraisal on admission to decide auxiliary harm and to identify (creating) intracranial hematomas (Maas, Stocchetti, Bullock, 2008). ... ..., Injury, Volume 42, Issue 9, September 2011, Pages 940-944, ISSN 0020-1383, 10.1016/j.injury.2010.09.019. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020138310006741) Tawfeeq, Mohammed M Halawani, Khulood Al-Faridi, Wa’el AAL-Shaya, Wa’el S Taha, Traumatic cerebrum injury: neuroprotective sedative procedures, an update, Injury, Volume 40, Supplement 4, November 2009, Pages S75-S81, ISSN 0020-1383, 10.1016/j.injury.2009.10.040. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020138309005609) Yeates, Armstrong, Janusz, Taylor, Wade, Stancin, Drotar, Long-Term Attention Problems in Children With Traumatic Brain Injury, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Volume 44, Issue 6, June 2005, Pages 574-584, ISSN 0890-8567, 10.1097/01.chi.0000159947.50523.64. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890856709616336)

100 Must-Read Books About Addiction

100 Must-Read Books About Addiction I’ve been sober for nine years, and in that time I’ve read a lot of books about addiction. In fact, I started reading about addiction before I got soberâ€"-perhaps because something in the very back of my mind was telling me that someday these books about addiction would be quite relevant to my life. Not all of these books are All About Addiction. In many of them, especially the fiction titles, addiction plays a role but is not necessarily the focus of the book. Addiction is powerful, complicated, and appears in our lives in a variety of different ways. The beauty of literature is its ability to convey all the exciting, ugly, complicated nuances of issues like addiction, so we might reflect on the myriad ways it impacts our world. 32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter “Davidia Jones, a nerdy child of poverty, is abused by her alcoholic mother and despicable father and is the subject of merciless taunting at her high school. The 15-year-old bolts town with a lesbian trucker named Mama Jane and lands a gig as a 40s-style chanteuse in L.A. With a little Hollywood stardust, she redefines herself and begins living the life shes dreamed ofuntil James, the rich golden boy she had a crush on back home, walks into her nightclub.” The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie “Junior is a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.” Junior chronicles his observations in his diary, including the various addictions he sees plague many of the adults in his life. There are all kinds of addicts, I guess,” he says. “We all have pain. And we all look for ways to make the pain go away.” America Anonymous: Eight Addicts in Search of a Life by Benoit Denizet-Lewis For nearly three years, acclaimed journalist Benoit Denizet-Lewis immersed himself in the lives of eight addicts as they battled drug and alcohol abuse, overeating, and compulsive gambling and sexuality. Alternating with their stories is Denizet-Lewiss candid account of his own recovery from sexual addiction and his compelling examination of our culture of addiction, where we obsessively search for new and innovative ways to escape the reality of the present moment and make ourselves feel better. American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot  by Craig Ferguson Before he was a household name, Craig Ferguson was a punk rock musician, a construction worker, a bouncer, and, tragically, a modern dancer. To numb the pain of failure, Ferguson found comfort in drugs and alcohol, addictions that eventually led to an aborted suicide attempt. But his story has a happy ending: success on the hit sitcom The Drew Carey Show, and later as the host of CBSs Late Late Show. A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown “There are shelves of memoirs about overcoming the death of a parent, childhood abuse, rape, drug addiction, miscarriage, alcoholism, hustling, gangbanging, near-death injuries, drug dealing, prostitution, or homelessness.  Cupcake Brown survived all these things before she’d even turned twenty.  And that’s when things got interesting…” A Plague Year by Edward Bloor “Its 2001 and zombies have taken over Toms town. Meth zombies. The drug rips through Blackwater, PA, with a ferocity and a velocity that overwhelms everyone. Tom wants out. With the selfless heroism of the passengers on United Flight 93 that crashed nearby fresh in his mind and in his heart, Tom begins to see some reasons to stay, to see that even lost causes can be worth fighting for.”   Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction by Elizabeth Vargas “From the moment she uttered the brave and honest words, I am an alcoholic, to interviewer George Stephanopoulos, Elizabeth Vargas began writing her story, as her experiences were still raw. In Between Breaths, Vargas discusses how she developed anxiety at the age of six when her father served in Vietnam and how this anxiety impacted her over the course of her life. Alcohol offered relief from this anxiety until, of course, it didn’t. Vagas discusses her time in rehab, her first year of sobriety, and the guilt she felt as a working mother who “never found the right balance.” Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll “Jim Carroll grew up to become a renowned poet and punk rocker. But in this memoir of the mid-1960s, set during his coming-of-age from 12 to 15, he was a rebellious teenager making a place and a name for himself on the unforgiving streets of New York City. Here is Carroll prowling New York Cityplaying basketball, hustling, stealing, getting high, getting hooked, and searching for something pure.” Beautiful Boy: A Fathers Journey Through His Sons Addiction by David Sheff “What had happened to my beautiful boy? To our family? What did I do wrong? Those are the wrenching questions that haunted every moment of David Sheff’s journey through his son Nic’s addiction to drugs and tentative steps toward recovery. Beautiful Boy is a fiercely candid memoir that brings immediacy to the emotional rollercoaster of loving a child who seems beyond help.” Beneath a Meth Moon by Jacqueline Woodson Laurel is trying to move on after Hurricane Katrina destroyed her home, and left her without her mother and grandmother. When Laurels new boyfriend introduces her to meth, she immediately falls under its spell, loving the way it erases, even if only briefly, her past. But as she becomes alienated from her friends and family, she becomes a shell of her former self, and longs to be whole again. The Bitter Taste of Dying by Jason Smith “Jason Smith explores the depravity and desperation required to maintain an opiate addiction so fierce, he finds himself jumping continents to avoid jail time and learns the hard way that some demons cannot be outrun.” Blackout Girl: Growing Up and Drying Out in America  by Jennifer Strom “By age 13, Jennifer Storm was binge drinking and well on her way to regular cocaine and LSD use. Her young life was awash in alcohol, drugs, and the trauma of rape.  Blackout Girl is Storms tender and gritty memoir, revealing the depths of her addiction and her eventual path to a life of accomplishment and joy.” Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget  by Sarah Hepola Regardless of how in denial one may be, being a blackout drinker is freaking scary. There are whole parts of your life you simply can’t remember. After getting sober, Hepola began examining these blacked-out hours, what they meant about her drinking and, more importantly, what they mean for her sobriety. A lovely collection of essays. Bright Lights Big City by Jay McInerney Bright Lights, Big City follows a young man, living in Manhattan as if he owned it, through nightclubs, fashion shows, editorial offices, and loft parties as he attempts to outstrip mortality and the recurring approach of dawn. With nothing but goodwill, controlled substances, and wit to sustain him in this anti-quest, he runs until he reaches his reckoning point, where he is forced to acknowledge loss and, possibly, to rediscover his better instincts. Candy by Mian Mian “At 17 years-old, Hong ditches high school and runs away to the city. As she navigates the temptations of the city, she quickly falls in love with a young musician and together they dive into a cruel netherworld of alcohol, drugs, and excess, a life that fails to satisfy Hongs craving for an authentic self, and for a love that will define her. This startling and subversive novel is a blast of sex, drugs, and rock n roll that opens up to us a modern China weve never seen before.” Clean by Amy Reed Olivia, Kelly, Christopher, Jason, and Eva have one thing in common: They’re addicts who have hit rock bottom and been stuck together in rehab. None of them wants to be there. But they’ll all have to deal with themselvesâ€"and one anotherâ€"if they want to learn how to live. Confessions of an English Opium Eater by Thomas De Quincey “Thomas De Quincey hauntingly describes the surreal visions and hallucinatory nocturnal wanderings he took through Londonâ€"and the nightmares, despair, and paranoia to which he became preyâ€"under the influence of the then-legal painkiller laudanum. First published in 1821, Confessions paved the way for later generations of literary drug users, from Baudelaire to Burroughs, and anticipated psychoanalysis with its insights into the subconscious.” Crank by Ellen Hopkins “Kristina is introduced to crystal meth (“crank”) while visiting her largely absent and neer-do-well father. While high, Kristina discovers her sexy alter-ego, Bree.  Bree will do all the things good girl Kristina wont, including attracting the attention of dangerous boys who can provide her with a steady flow of crank.” Crooked Little Heart by Anne Lamott Rosie Ferguson’s mother, in the first bloom of young womanhood, is obsessed with tournament tennis. Her mother is a recovering alcoholic still grieving the death of her first husband; her stepfather, a struggling writer, is wrestling with his own demons. And now Rosie finds that her athletic gifts, once a source of triumph and escape, place her in peril, as a shadowy man who stalks her from the bleachers seems to be developing an obsession of his own. Cruddy by Lynda Barry “On a September night in 1971, a few days after getting busted for dropping acid, a sixteen-year-old curls up in the corner of her ratty bedroom and begins to write. On a September night in 1971, a few days after getting busted for dropping acid, sixteen-year-old Roberta Rohbeson curls up in the corner of her ‘cruddy’ bedroom and begins to write. This story, the backbone of Robertas short life, include a one-way trip across America fueled by revenge and greed and a vivid cast of characters, starring Robertas dangerous father, the owners of the Knocking Hammer Bar-cum-slaughterhouse, and runaway adolescents.” The Curse of Lono by Hunter S. Thompson “A wild ride to the dark side of Americana The Curse of Lono is to Hawaii what Fear and Loathing was to Las Vegas: the crazy tales of a journalists  â€˜coverage’ of a news event that ends up being a wild ride to the dark side of Americana.” DJ Rising  by Love Maia “In between caring for his heroin-addicted mother, and keeping his scholarship at a fancy prep school, Marley dreams of becoming a professional DJ. When chance lands him his first real DJ job, his career as DJ Ice suddenly skyrockets. But when heart-rending disaster at home brings Marley crashing back down to earth, he is torn between obligation and following his dreams.” Desire: Where Sex Meets Addiction by Susan Cheever “Cheevers book combines unsparing and intimate memoir, interviews and stories, hard science and psychology to explore the difference between falling in love and falling prey to an addiction.” Diary of an Exercise Addict by Peach Friedman “Friedman recounts her descent into exercise bulimia, her remarkable recovery, and the setbacks along the way. With refreshing candor she lays bare her relationships with family, friends, and lovers and the repressed desire that finally surfaced as she found her own way back to health.” Dope Sick by Walter Dean Myers “A drug deal goes south and a cop has been shot. Lil Js on the run. And hes starting to get dope sick. Hed do anything to change the last twenty-four hours, and when he stumbles into an abandoned building, it actually might be possible” Dreamland: The True Tale of Americas Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones “In fascinating detail, Sam Quinones chronicles how, over the past 15 years, enterprising sugar cane farmers in a small county on the west coast of Mexico created a unique distribution system that brought black tar heroinâ€"the cheapest, most addictive form of the opiate, 2 to 3 times purer than its white powder cousinâ€"to the veins of people across the United States.” Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp This is arguably the most important book I’ve ever read. Years before I got sober, Caroline Knapp pulled me into this book with her gorgeous prose. Once I was hooked on her writing, I began to see a reflection of my story in her own. A must read foranyone. Drunk Mom by Jowita Bydlowska “Three years after giving up drinking, Jowita Bydlowska was at a party celebrating the birth of her first child when she found herself throwing back a glass of champagne. It marked Bydlowskas immediate, full-blown return to alcoholism.  Drunk Mom is Bydlowskas account of the ways substance abuse took control of her lifeâ€"-as well as her fight toward recovery as a young mother.” Dry: Augusten Burroughs “At the request (well, it wasnt really a request) of his employers, Augusten Burroughs landed in rehab, where his dreams of group therapy with Robert Downey, Jr., are immediately dashed by the grim reality of fluorescent lighting and paper hospital slippers. But when Augusten is forced to examine himself, something actually starts to click, and thats when he finds himself in the worst trouble of all. Because when his thirty days are up, he has to return to his same drunken Manhattan life and live it sober.” Even Tough Girls Wear Tutus: Inside the World of a Woman Born in Prison  Deborah Jiang Stein “Even Tough Girls Wear Tutus is the story of a woman whose gift for finding purpose in life drives her to help others change their lives even as she struggles to accept and overcome her own past, born heroin addicted to a mother in prison. Her story proves were more than the sum of our parts, and theres always a chance for redemption.” Far From You by Tess Sharpe “Four months ago Sophies best friend, Mina, died in what everyone believes was a drug deal gone wrong a deal they think Sophie arranged. Only Sophie knows the truth; Mina was deliberately murdered. Forced into rehab for an addiction shed already beaten, Sophies finally out and on the trail of the killerâ€"but can she track them down before they come for her?” Ferocity Summer by Alissa Grosso Scilla Davis is haunted by a horrible accident that she was involved in last summera drunken, reckless joyride that ended in tragedy. With her trial looming, an FBI agent approaches Scilla with an offer: find the source of a new drug epidemic and avoid conviction for her role in the accident. All she has to do is deceive and betray people shes known all her life Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero “Gabi Hernandez chronicles her last year in high school in her diary: college applications, Cindys pregnancy, Sebastians coming out, the cute boys, her fathers meth habit, and the food she craves. And best of all, the poetry that helps forge her identity.” The Girl on the Train  by Paula Hawkins Alcoholics make for unreliable narrators. Which is why no one believes Rachel when she tells the police what she saw that day on the train. But Rachel knows what she saw. Doesn’t she? A Girl Walks Out of a Bar by Lisa Smith “Lisa Smith was a bright young lawyer at a prestigious law firm in NYC when alcoholism and drug addiction took over her life. What was once a way she escaped her insecurity and negativity as a teenager became a means of coping with the anxiety and stress of an impossible workload.” Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir  by Janice Erlbaum “At fifteen, sick of her unbearable and increasingly dangerous home life, Janice Erlbaum walked out of her family’s Brooklyn apartment and didn’t look back. She roamed New York City with her two best girlfriends, scoring coke at Danceteria, smoking angel dust in East Village squats, and sleeping with one another’s boyfriends on a regular basis. Girlbomb provides an unflinching look at street life, survival sex, female friendships, and first loves.” The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls Jeanette Wells and her siblings grew up with a father who was charismatic and loving when sober, dishonest and destructive when drunk. Her mother was a loving but mercurial, and the Wells children learned how to fend for themselves. When the kids eventually moved to New York, their parents followed, “choosing to be homeless even as  their children prospered.” Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks as “Anonymous” “It started when she was served a soft drink laced with LSD in a dangerous party game. Within months, she was hooked, trapped in a downward spiral that took her from her comfortable home and loving family to the mean streets of an unforgiving city. It was a journey that would rob her of her innocence, her youth and ultimately her life.” The Good House by Ann Leary This is hands down the most accurate portrayal of what it feels like to be a blackout drinker in denial that I have ever read. Hildy Good doesn’t have a drinking problem. She’s only hiding her wine consumption because everyone in her small town knows she was in rehab and she just wants to move on. But when Hildy becomes privy to a web of town secrets, her increasingly uncontrollable drinking threatens everything. If you can get this one on audio, I highly recommend it.   Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster by Kristen Johnson This hilarious and moving memoir recounts Johnson’s rise to fame in the television show 3rd Rock From the Sun, her addiction, medical challenges, and recovery. The Harder They Fall: Celebrities Tell Their Real-Life Stories of Addiction and Recovery edited by Gary Stromberg and Jane Miles “The Harder They Fall reveals the intimate thoughts, feelings, regrets, and beliefs of celebrities in recovery. Among those profiled are comedian Richard Pryor; musicians Grace Slick, Dr. John, and Chuck Negron; actors Malcolm McDowell and Mariette Hartley; and athletes Dock Ellis and Gerry Cooney. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas Drugs and addiction are part of life in 17-year-old Starrs neighborhood. When she witnesses the murder of her childhood friend at the hands of a police officer, she must reconcile her two different worlds. The Hidden Keys by André Alexis “Although the Green Dolphin is a bar of ill repute, it is there that Tancred Palmieri, a thief with elegant and erudite tastes, meets Willow Azarian, an aging heroin addict. She reveals to Tancred that her very wealthy father has recently passed away, leaving each of his five children a mysterious object that provides one clue to the whereabouts of a large inheritance. Willow enlists Tancred to steal these objects from her siblings and solve the puzzle.” High Price: Drugs, Neuroscience, and Discovering Myself  by Dr. Carl Hart “A pioneering neuroscientist shares his story of growing up in one of Miamis toughest neighborhoods and how it led him to his groundbreaking work in drug addiction.” Hole in my Life by Jack Gantos “When he was a senior in high school, writer Jack Gantos agreed to help sail a sixty-foot yacht loaded with a ton of hashish from the Virgin Islands to New York City, where he and his partners sold the drug until federal agents caught up with them. In Hole in My Life, Gantos describes howâ€" once he was locked up in a small, yellow-walled cell â€" moved from wanting to be a writer to writing, and how dedicating himself more fully to the thing he most wanted to do helped him endure and ultimately overcome the worst experience of his life.” How I Made it to Eighteen: A Mostly True Story by Tracy White “After seventeen year-old Stacy Black puts her fist through the glass, she checks into a mental hospital. Stacy hates it there but despite herself slowly realizes she has to face the reasons for her depression to stop from self-destructing. How I Made it to Eighteen is a frank portrait of what its like to struggle with self-esteem, body image issues, drug addiction, and anxiety.” How to Murder Your Life  by Cat Marnell “At 26, Cat Marnell was a talented ‘doctor shopper’ who manipulated Upper East Side psychiatrists into giving her never-ending prescriptions; her life had become a twisted merry-go-round of parties and pills at night, and trying to hold down a high profile job at Condé Naste during the day.  How to Murder Your Life is an unforgettable, charged account of a young female addict, so close to throwing her entire life away.” How to Grow Up  by Michelle Tea This isn’t just a memoir about getting sober. It’s a memoir about youth and growing up, about the decisions we make as we transition from young adult to adult-adult. Tea’s funny, smart memoir about making that transition demonstrates that there’s no clear path to adulthood and that falling down on that path is inevitable. All we can do is get up, dust ourselves off and keep walking. setTimeout(function() { if (typeof(__gaTracker) !== 'undefined') { __gaTracker('send', 'event', 'InlineRandomContent Impression', 'InlineRandomContent', 'Daily Deals Giveaway Inline RC Feb 20'); } }, 3000); The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson Haley, a senior in high school,  struggles to help her Iraq War Vet father with his severe PTSD and substance abuse issues. Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese “Saul Indian Horse’s  last binge almost killed him, and now he’s a reluctant resident in a treatment centre for alcoholics, surrounded by people he’s sure will never understand him. But Saul wants peace, and he grudgingly comes to see that he’ll find it only through telling his story. With him, readers embark on a journey back through the life he’s led as a northern Ojibway, with all its joys and sorrows.” In the Realm of Hungry Ghost: Close Encounters with Addiction by Dr. Gabor Mate Anyone who wants to understand the complex roots of addiction should familiarize themselves with Dr. Gabor Mate’s work. Mate has worked with drug addicts in some of the most dire straights. This work has led to incredible insights about the nature of addiction, the failure of the “war on drugs,” and the compassion that’s needed for effective addiction treatment.   Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace To be honest, I tried to read this and couldn’t get through it. But people who are smarter and/or more patient than me insist it’s about addiction. It Calls You Back: An Odyssey Through Love, Addiction, Revolutions and Healing by Luis Rodriguez In the sequel to Always Running, Luis Rodriguez recounts his last days in prison as a teenager and his struggle with heroin addiction, and staying away from the life that put him in prison in the first place. Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson “Jesus Son is a visionary chronicle of dreamers, addicts, and lost souls. These stories tell of spiraling grief and transcendence, of rock bottom and redemption, of getting lost and found and lost again. The raw beauty and careening energy of Denis Johnsons prose has earned this book a place among the classics of twentieth-century American literature.” John Barleycorn by Jack London “In John Barleycorn, Jack London records his early hardships in Oakland, his experiences as oyster pirate, deep-sea sealer, hobo, Yukon goldminer, student, drop-out, and ultimately best-selling author.” Junky by William S. Burroughs “In his debut novel, Junky, Burroughs fictionalized his experiences using and peddling heroin and other drugs in the 1950s into a work that reads like a field report from the underworld of post-war America.” Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Sáenz “Zach is eighteen. He is bright and articulate. Hes also an alcoholic and in rehab instead of high school, but he doesnt remember how he got there. Hes not sure he wants to remember.” Learning Not to Drown by Ann Shinoda Loving an addict can be just as harrowing as being an addict. Shinoda’s novel follows seventeen year-old Claire as her family navigates the challenges and consequences of her drug-addicted brother, Luke’s, behavior.  How far will the family go to protect someone they love? Lit by Mary Karr Memoirs about getting sober need at least a dash of humor to be tolerable. Fortunately, Mary Karr is freaking hilarious and her sobriety memoir has witty, dry (pun intended, thank you very much) humor on every page. Discussions about motherhood, alcoholism, and how the hell we’re supposed to figure out life make this a memorable read. Maya’s Notebook by Isabelle Allende “After falling into a life of drugs, crime, and prostitution, an American teenager takes refuge on an island off the coast of Chile. There, in the company of a torture survivor, a lame dog, and other unforgettable characters, Maya Vidal writes her story, which includes pursuit by a gang of assassins, the police, the FBI, and Interpol. In the process, she unveils a terrible family secret, comes to understand the meaning of love and loyalty, and initiates the greatest adventure of her life: the journey into her own soul.” Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town by Nick Reding The meth epidemic was at its peak in the early aughts, and few places were more affected that rural communities. Journalist Reding tells the story of Oelwein, Iowa (pop. 6,159), which is struggling with economic decline and an influx of the highly addictive drug. A compassionate portrayal of all those afflicted by a situation increasingly out of their control. The Misfortunates by Dimitri Verhulst “Sobriety and moderation are alien concepts to the men in Dimmys familyIn this semi-autobiographical novel, Dimitri Verhulst brings his shambolic upbringing to life, with characteristic warmth, colour, and wit.” More, Now, Again: A Memoir of Addiction by Elizabeth Wurtzel After finding literary notoriety with Prozac Nation, Wurtzel penned this memoir about her descent into addiction and path to sobriety. Like Drinking: A Love Story, Wurtzel vividly describes the need inherent in addictionâ€"-the unquenchable driving force that that fuels the addiction despite all negative consequences. My Book of Life by Angel by Martine Leavitt A teenage girl gets hooked on drugs and forced into prostitution. It might be a little on the nose for some readers but I’ve had luck getting teen reluctant readers interested in this story. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander The United States has a prison problem. Much of that problem involves the incarceration Black men and the failed “war on drugs.” In treating addiction, it’s just as important to understand what doesn’t work as it is to understand what does. The answer to the country’s drug problem is not the incarceration of nonviolent drug offendersâ€"-and racial bias in conviction and sentencing is nothing more than, well, a new era of Jim Crow. The Night of the Gun by David Carr “David Carr redefines memoir with the revelatory story of his years as an addict and chronicles his journey from crack-house regular to regular columnist for ‘The New York Times.’ NW by Zadie Smith “Set in northwest London, Zadie Smith’s brilliant tragicomic novel follows four localsâ€"Leah, Natalie, Felix, and Nathanâ€"as they try to make adult lives outside of the council estate of their childhood. These Londoners inhabit a complicated place, as beautiful as it is brutal, where the thoroughfares hide the back alleys and taking the high road can sometimes lead you to a dead end.” Nathan, in particular, struggles with addiction, violence, and rage. The Orange Eats Creeps Grace Krilanovich “Its the 90s Pacific Northwest refracted through a dark mirror, where meth and madness hash it out in the woods. . . . A band of hobo vampire junkies roam the blighted landscapeâ€"trashing supermarket breakrooms, praying to the altar of Poison Idea and GG Allin at basement rock shows, crashing senior center pancake breakfastsâ€"locked in the thrall of Robitussin trips and their own wild dreams.” Out of Reach by Carrie Arcos A teenage girl searches for her missing addict brother. In doing so, she must face painful realities about her family and herself. Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher Some thought of her as a princess, others a general, but to me, Carrie Fisher was the darkly comedic recovering addict, mental health advocate. Her first novel follows a young actress as she works through her drug addiction and early sobriety. Rabbit Ears by Maggie Devries “Kaya is adopted, multiracial, grieving the death of her fatherâ€"and carrying a painful secret. Feeling ill at ease with her family and in her own skin, she runs away repeatedly, gradually disappearing into a life of addiction and sex work.” Raiders Night by Robert Lipsyte “A darker side of  competitive high school sports is depicted in this novel by award-winning journalist, Robert Lipsyte, and in consultation with Dr. Michael J. Miletic, a leading sports psychiatrist.” Recovery Road by Blake Nelson “Madeline and Stewart fall for each other in rehab. Madeline gets out and starts to regain her feet. But when Stewart joins her, both still are severely troubled, and he is getting worse.” Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby Jr. The strength of addiction’s grasp is illustrated through the lives of four main characters, each struggling with it in their own way. Saint Iggy by K.L. Going When Iggy Corso gets kicked out of high school, he ventures into the world to make something of his life. Its not easy when youre sixteen, have no skills, and your only friend is mixed up with the dealer who got your mom hooked. A Scanner Darkly by Phillip K. Dick The undercover narcotics agent who calls himself Bob Arctor is desperate to discover the ultimate source of supply. But to find any kind of lead he has to pose as a user and, inevitably, without realizing what is happening, Arctor is soon as addicted as the junkies he works among Shards: A Young Vice Cop Investigates Her Darkest Case of Meth Addictionâ€"-Her Own by Allison Moore “The shocking true story of Allison Moore, a cop in Hawaii who became addicted to meth, deceived her entire police department, and endured prison, prostitution, and tortureâ€"until finally seeking redemption.” The Shining by Stephen King This book is about 3 million percent too scary for me to read (in high school, I tried to watch the movie with some friends and got so scared that I made everyone turn on the lights and watch The Babysitter’s Club movie instead. And yes, you read that right. High school.) but both The Shining and its sequel, Dr. Sleep, are portrayals of addiction as only Stephen King could relay them.   Sirens by Johsua Mohr Acclaimed novelist Joshua Mohr provides a captivating and complicated account of his years of substance abuse and culpability in his non-fiction debutMohr traces his childhood swilling fuzzy navels as a latch-key kid, through his first failed marriage, parenthood, heart-surgery, and his everyday struggle against relapse.” Smack by Melvin Burgess “Two teens fall in love with each other and heroin. Tar has reasons for running away from home that run deep and sour, whereas Gemma, with her middle-class roots firmly on show, has a deep-rooted lust for adventure. Their first hit brings bliss, the next despair.” Sober Stick Figure by Amber Tozer “Sober Stick Figure is a memoir from stand-up comedian Amber Tozer, chronicling her life as an alcoholic and her eventual recoveryâ€" starting with her first drink at the age of sevenâ€"all told with the help of childlike stick figures. Amber writes and illustrates the crazy and harsh truths of being raised by alcoholics, becoming one herself, stagnating in denial for years, and finally getting sober.” Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson “Everyday teen existence meets indigenous beliefs, crazy family dynamics, and cannibalistic river otter . . .” The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharpe Sutter Keely is the lift of the party, which is good because partying is the only thing he really does well. When he falls in love with a girl who doesn’t share his singular priority, he has to decide which thing he cares about more The Splendid Things We Planned by Blake Bailey “The Splendid Things We Planned is a darkly funny account of growing up in the shadow of an erratic and increasingly dangerous brother, an exhilarating and sometimes harrowing story that culminates in one unforgettable Christmas.” The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer “The New York Times bestseller and one of the 100 Most Notable Books of 2005. In the tradition of This Boys Life and The Liars Club, a raucous, poignant, luminously written memoir about a boy striving to become a man, and his romance with a bar.” The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese “When Abraham Verghese, a physician whose marriage is unraveling, relocates to El Paso, Texas, he hopes to make a fresh start as a staff member at the county hospital. There he meets David Smith, a medical student recovering from drug addiction, and the two men begin a tennis ritual that allows them to shed their inhibitions and find security in the sport they love and with each other.” Terry: My Daughter’s Life-and-Death Struggle with Alcoholism by George McGovern The recovery stories that don’t end happily don’t always get told. In this heartbreaking memoir, George McGovern recounts his daughter’s ultimately fatal struggle with alcoholism. Time Salvager by Wesley Chu James Griffin-Mars, the hard-drinking, convicted criminal is no one’s hero. In his time, Earth is a toxic, abandoned world and humans have fled into the outer solar system to survive, eking out a fragile, doomed existence among the other planets and their moons. Those responsible for delaying humanity’s demise believe time travel holds the key, and they have identified James, troubled though he is, as one of a select and expendable few ideally suited for the most dangerous job in history. Twins by Marcy Durmansky “Over the course of five years, twins Chloe and Sue overcome breakups, unhappy Hawaiian vacations, unicycle lessons, eating disorders, pill abuse, and their first painful explorations of love and sex. Told in alternating voices, Twins introduces two new unforgettable heroines on the verge, in a spellbinding tale of teen angst, obsession, and redemption in the suburbs. Trainspotting by Irvine Welch This gritty story about a group of Scottish heroin addicts pairs well with Requiem for a Dream if you’re looking for a fun, uplifting afternoon! The Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction by Maria Salavitz Journalist and recovery addict Salavitz marries journalism and memoir in this exploration of how and why addiction developsâ€"-and how we should think about treating it. Unwasted: My Lush Sobriety by Sacha Z. Scoblic Many recovery memoirs end right after the narrator gets sober. Unwasted begins just after Sacha’s gotten sober. “Here are her adventures in an utterly and maddeningly sober world.and how she discovered that nothing is as odd and fantastic as life without a drink in hand” Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann “Dolls: red or black; capsules or tablets; washed down with vodka or swallowed straight-for Anne, Neely, and Jennifer, it doesnt matter, as long as the pill bottle is within easy reach. These three women become best friends when they are young and struggling in New York City and then climb to the top of the entertainment industry-only to find that there is no place left to go but down-into the Valley of the Dolls.” Very LeFreak by Rachel Cohn Long before I was falling asleep with my iPhone in hand, I read Very LeFreak, a young adult novel about a technology addicted girl. Very can’t stay away from screens and it lands her in tech rehab. A slightly outdated but entertaining YA title. Wake Up Sir Jonathan Ames “From the creator of the HBO series Bored to Death, the story of a young alcoholic writer and his personal valet, a hilarious homage to the Bertie and Jeeves novels of P.G. Wodehouse.” The Way Back by Carrie Mac A pregnant, drug-addicted teenager check herself into rehab in hopes of giving her child a life different from her own. We All Fall Down by Nic Sheff Son of David Sheff (Beautiful Boy), Nic Sheff describes the challenges of staying sober after several rounds of rehab and his non-linear but ultimately successful path to recovery. Where it Began by Ann Redish “Gabby Gardiner wakes up in a hospital bed looking like a cautionary ad for drunk driving and without a single memory of the accident that landed her there. As she peels back the layers of her life, Gabby begins to realize that her climb up the status ladder has been as intoxicating as it has been morally complexand that nothing about her life is what she has imagined it to be.” The Year of My Miraculous Reappearance by Catherine Ryan Hyde Cynnie vows she’ll never be an alcoholicâ€"-she’s sees the damage alcohol can cause in her mother every day. The stress of being the real adult of the house gets to be tough, though and Cynnie has an idea about what might numb the pain. An honest, compassionate portrayal of alcoholism. Are there any additional books about addiction that you recommend? If you want even more books, weve got 16 books about the unglamorous parts of addiction here. Follow us on Instagram! Sign up to Unusual Suspects to receive news and recommendations for mystery/thriller readers. Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox.

Rescription Stimulants A Safe ADHD Treatment for Children - Free Essay Example

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common psychiatric disorder diagnosed in children and adolescents. Marked by restlessness, inattentiveness, impulsivity, and other forms of hyperactivity, ADHD poses an obstacle for many youths, especially in the classroom. Because of this, many people look for treatment options available to children to help reduce these symptoms. The most prevalent of these options comes in the form of the stimulant drugs methylphenidate (MPH) and amphetamine (AMPH), commonly prescribed as Ritalin and Adderall, respectively. Unsurprisingly, many people have concerns about prescribing these drugs to children and worry about potential adverse effects these medications could have on their development. The most common concerns include increased risk of suppressed growth, substance use disorders, stunted cortical development, sleep pattern interference, long-term cardiovascular issues, and alterations on dopaminergic systems. Despite these concerns, studies have shown little significant correlation between the prescribed use of stimulants in these ADHD children and deviance with what would be considered normal or expected development. There is however ample evidence supporting the many positive effects these medications can have for children with this disorder, including better classroom behavior, increased focus, and overall improved academic performance (Kortekaas-Rijlaarsdam et. al, 2018). Between this lack of evidence for adverse effects and the significant positive responses found by taking these medications, they appear to be a safe and effective ADHD medication to prescribe to children. As mentioned, one of the biggest fears people have when it comes to prescribing youths with stimulant medications is that it will lower their overall growth rate. With or without medication, it has been shown that ADHD itself can have a negative impact on skeletal maturation, and many believe that adding medications to the mix will only suppress growth further (Urban Gao, 2017). A study done at the University of Medical Sciences looked into this theory by evaluating dental age and cervical vertebral maturation in healthy controls, ADHD-individuals not taking medication, and ADHD-individuals who have been treated with MPH for 1-3 years. In their study, researchers used these two measures to compare skeletal development of each individual at controlled chronological ages and compared the different groups against each other. Upon analysis, they found no significant difference in skeletal age based on diagnosis or MPH treatment, though they did find differences based on sex and age, which they adjusted the data to accommodate. Overall, results showed that the presence of MPH was not having a large effect on skeletal development (Tehranchi et. al, 2018), indicating that growth rate†at least skeletal growth rate†is not significantly stunted by use of MPH. That being said, a common reported side effect of MPH and AMPH medications is a decrease in appeti te, which can lead to weight loss or prevent appropriate weight gain. This could contribute to the fear of stunted growth, as studies have shown a significant relationship between ADHD-individuals taking MPH treatments and a lower BMI, as well as overall body weight when compared to healthy controls (McCarthy et. al, 2018). This, thankfully, is a much easier issue to address individually and on a case-by-case basis than impaired skeletal growth would be. Low BMI and body weight can be addressed by something as simple as altering diet and exercise regimes and controlling/monitoring caloric intake. Children may have a diminished appetite, but the lower average BMI that results can be counteracted by more foods that can help maintain a healthy body weight. Skeletal growth deficiencies would be much harder than this to address and would increase the risks of taking MPH dramatically. Coinciding with that fear of growth deficiencies, many people have concerns regarding suppressed neural growth and believe that use of prescription stimulants can stunt cortical thickening and thinning. During normal neural development, the thickness of the cerebral cortex increases to a certain point before slowly starting to thin, usually around age 7 or 8, as an expected marker of typical aging (Shaw et. al, 2011). It has been found that ADHD itself can have a negative effect on cortical development, and that individuals with the disorder on average display increased rates of cortical thinning (Narr et. al, 2009). Many believe that MPH medications can affect that nuanced development even further. S tudies conducted by the National Institution of Mental Health (NIMH) and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have shown that while it does appear that ADHD individuals have lower total brain volumes on average and lower volumes of gray matter, there is nothing that indicates detrimental effects of MPH administration on cortical mantle development. When NIMH researchers compared data from a group of healthy individuals, nonmedicated ADHD individuals, and ADHD individuals on a psychostimulant medication, they found that the medicated ADHD individuals showed evidence of cortical thinning at a rate more consistent with the control, healthy individuals. Using neuroimaging to assess cortical thickness, they found slower cortical growth and thinning in non-medicated ADHD individuals compared to the control, further indicating that it may be a result of the disorder itself, and not the medication (Shaw et. al, 2009). In contrast to what people believe, their research shows that administration of stimulant medications may actually be beneficial in normalizing the otherwise increased rate of cortical thinning. Not only are there concerns about neural development, but also concerns regarding stimulant effects on neural functioning as a whole. One of the functional markers of ADHD is disordered frontostriatal and fontoparietal activity, w hich are neural pathways critical to executive function (Dickstein et. al, 2006). This disordered hypoactivity is thought to be one of the causes of the behavioral symptoms exhibited by ADHD individuals: impulsivity, hyperactivity, and inability to concentrate, to name a few. One of the main functions of stimulant medications like methylphenidate and amphetamine is to try and increase the activity of these areas back up to normal levels. And, according to a study done by multiple institutions (Peking University, Kings College London, Hangzhou Normal University, and Beijing Normal University), MPH is able to do just that. By using fMRI scans to look at brain activity of individuals at a resting state, they found that acute doses of MPH were able to successfully normalize fronto-parietal-cerebellar activity in boys aged 9-15 who had been diagnosed with ADHD (An et. al, 2013). Along the same lines, many people in the scientific community have been looking into potential stimulant interference in the development of the dopaminergic system. In ADHD, there is a deficit in dopamine (DA) availability in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), the main cortical area involved in attention and decision making. This DA deficiency is believed to be another aspect of what contributes to the symptomatic hyperactivity, inattentiveness, and impulsivity seen in ADHD patients, and can potentially be considered the cause of the dysregulation of frontoparietal cortical areas mentioned above. Amphetamine and methylphenidate have slightly nuanced reactions in the dopaminergic systems of the brain, but both influence catecholamine (DA and norepinephrine (NE)) levels and abundance in a way that promotes activity in the PFC, and even the temporal lobe. These stimulants have been known to interact with dopaminergic systems to block DA reuptake channels and transporters (DAT) in the PFC, inhibiting reuptake and allowing for greater synaptic DA accumulation (Urban Gao, 2017). The danger in this, many people believe, is that long-term use of these medications can start to have neurotoxic effects on the brain, especially on the DA systems that they directly interact with. However, studies have shown that MPH has far fewer neurotoxic properties than other types of stimulants, which not only block DA reuptake, but often stimulate increased rates of DA release, as well (Gerlach, 2013). These dopaminergic systems are involved in another concern many people have in regard to prescribi ng stimulant medications to children: an increased risk of developing a substance use disorder, or SUD. Stimulants, in general, act upon the central nervous system (CNS) in a way that increases activity, and that stimulation can become addictive by nature because it triggers activity in these DA pathways. Dopamine is heavily involved in the reward systems of the body and the brain, often paving the way for feelings of pleasure and euphoria, which are common effects triggered by stimulant drugs like MDMA and cocaine. This is a large contributor to the addictive qualities that these drugs have been shown to have, and a large contributor to the fear that prescription medications like MPH and AMPH will lead to higher risk of developing a substance-related problem, since it exposes children to these effects at an early age (Quinn et. al, 2017). That being said, it has been shown that these prescription stimulants (MPH and AMPH) taken orally do not trigger these same psychoactive experiences, simply due to their chemical nature and the way they interact with the DA system (Urban Gao, 2017). They have relatively low-intensity responses in the DA system than other, non-prescription stimulants taken recreationally. Using animal models researchers have found evidence of sensitization when it c omes to MPH treatment, which is commonly believed to increase the likelihood of developing long-term SUDs. When applied to humans, however, no such association has been found. In fact, when comparing data gathered from non-ADHD individuals, ADHD individuals receiving medication, and ADHD individuals with no medication, it has been shown that the ADHD individuals receiving medication are on average less likely to experience substance-related events both concurrently with the medication regime, as well as long term, measured by frequency two years later (Quinn et. al, 2017). This association was particularly strong in male patients, but was also indicated in female patients, though the non-ADHD control group was found to be the cohort least likely to experience substance-related events overall. In summation, these studies indicate that because there is no significant increase in SUDs between non-medicated ADHD individuals and medicated ADHD individuals, the increased frequency of substance-related events is less likely due to the medications, and more likely a result of the disorder, itself, which is known to increase impulsivity and have altered activity in the brain region associated with decision-making. Another adverse effect that make people believe MPH is an unsafe treatment to give to children is an increased risk of cardiovascular issues later in life. MPH has been shown to lead to an increase in blood pressure and heart rate, and over time, many worry that this can be problematic and lead to harmful cardiovascular events. Strain on the heart ad nauseum is not good for it, and many believe continuous administration of a drug that interacts with the cardiac system and increases that strain over a prolonged period of time is unsafe. Researchers have looked into this concern and have found proof of stage 1 hypertension in ADHD individuals who have been taking MPH for twelve months or more, based on increases in average systolic and diastolic blood pressures, which at length could be considered harmful to an individual (McCarthy et. al, 2018). Another study conducted longitudinal assessments and found that there was no significant increase in diagnoses of cardiovascular ailments or incidence of harmful cardiovascular events between people taking MPH long-term for ADHD and healthy controls (Olfson et. al, 2012). So while the information currently available indicates there is no need to be concerned about cardiovascular ailments, further research is needed in the area to get a better idea of how exactly thes e stimulant medications affect the cardiovascular system, and what danger they might pose in the long-run. Moving away from the cardiovascular system, there are also many concerns about how prescription stimulants can interfere with sleep patterns in children and young adults. These concerns do, in fact, have scientific evidence to support them, as there have been many studies conducted in the area of youth and adolescent sleep on a broader spectrum, as well as in more concentrated areas. Researchers who have looked into MPHs effects on sleeping patterns have found significant negative interference effects between sleep quality and use of medication, specifically significant impairment of sleep duration, latency, and efficiency [(Kidwell et. al, 2015), (Morash-Conway, Gendron Corkum, 2017)]. These effects can actually have a hand in some of the other concerns people have (low body weight, for example) (McCarthy et. al, 2018), as disrupted sleep patterns can have a negative effect on growth. Since sleep is such a vital aspect of development, the fact that stimulant medications can have su ch a negative impact on both quality and length of sleep is a very crucial aspect to consider when judging the safety of the medication. These effects can be minimized by closely monitoring the administration of the medication, or restricting the regiment so that children are only on the medications during school hours, where they are more crucially needed. While disrupted sleeping patterns have a foothold from empirical data, most of the concerns people have surrounding the use of stimulants as medications for ADHD are unfounded by scientific evidence. With the information and studies currently available, there is little to indicate that the potential adverse effects of medications like methylphenidate and amphetamine have lasting, harmful consequences when administered to children and young adults. If anything, researchers have proved more often than once that treatments like MPH and AMPH have more results beneficial to the patient than harmful. While more research is undoubtedly needed to further the confidence and reliability of these studies, given this body of knowledge, prescription stimulants seem to be not on ly the most effective treatment options available, but also relatively safe to be administered to children and young adults diagnosed with ADHD.

2D Game Programming in C Tutorial Snake

The purpose of this tutorial is to teach 2D game programming and C-language through examples. The author used to program games in the mid-1980s and was a game designer at MicroProse for a year in the 90s. Although much of that is not relevant to the programming of todays big 3D games, for small casual games it will serve as a useful introduction. Implementing Snake Games like snake where objects are moving over a 2D field can represent the game objects either in a 2D grid or as a single dimension array of objects. Object here meaning any game object, not an object as used in object-oriented programming. Game Controls The keys are move with Wup, A left, Sdown, Dright. Press Esc to quit the game, f to toggle frame rate (this isnt synchronized to the display so can be fast), tab key to toggle debug info and p to pause it. When its paused the caption changes and the snake flashes, In snake the main game objects are The snakeTraps and fruit For purposes of gameplay, an array of ints will hold every game object (or part for the snake). This can also help when rendering the objects into the screen buffer. Ive designed the graphics for the game as follows: Horizontal Snake Body - 0Vertical Snake Body - 1Head in 4 x 90-degree rotations 2-5Tail in 4 x 90-degree rotations 6-9Curves for Directions Change. 10-13Apple - 14Strawberry - 15Banana - 16Trap - 17View the snake graphics file snake.gif So, it makes sense to use these values in a grid type defined as block[WIDTH*HEIGHT]. As there are only 256 locations in the grid Ive chosen to store it in a single dimension array. Each coordinate on the 16 x16 grid is an integer 0-255. Weve used ints so you could make the grid bigger. Everything is defined by #defines with WIDTH and HEIGHT both 16. As the snake graphics are 48 x 48 pixels (GRWIDTH and GRHEIGHT #defines) the window is initially defined as 17 x GRWIDTH and 17 x GRHEIGHT to be just slightly bigger than the grid. This has benefits in game speed as using two indexes is always slower than one but it means instead of adding or subtracting 1 from the snakes Y coordinates to move vertically, you subtract WIDTH. Add 1 to move right. However being sneaky weve also defined a macro l(x,y) which converts the x and y coordinates at compile time. What Is a Macro? #define l(X,Y)(Y*WIDTH)X The first row is index 0-15, the 2nd 16-31 etc. If the snake is in the first column and moving left then the check to hit the wall, before moving left, must check if coordinate %WIDTH 0 and for the right wall coordinate %WIDTH WIDTH-1. The % is the C modulus operator (like clock arithmetic) and returns the remainder after division. 31 div 16 leaves a remainder of 15. Managing the Snake There are three blocks (int arrays) used in the game. snake[], a ring buffershape[] - Holds Snake graphic indexesdir[] - Holds the direction of every segment in the snake including head and tail. At the game start, the snake is two segments long with a head and a tail. Both can point in 4 directions. For north the head is index 3, the tail is 7, for the east head is 4, the tail is 8, for the south head is 5 and the tail is 9, and for the west, the head is 6 and tail is 10. While the snake is two segments long the head and tail are always 180 degrees apart, but after the snake grows they can be 90 or 270 degrees. The game starts with the head facing north at location 120 and the tail facing south at 136, roughly central. At a slight cost of some 1,600 bytes of storage, we can gain a discernible speed improvement in the game by holding the snakes locations in the snake[] ring buffer mentioned above. What Is a Ring Buffer? A ring buffer is a block of memory used for storing a queue that is a fixed size and must be big enough to hold all data. In this case, its just for the snake. The data is pushed on the front of the queue and taken off the back. If the front of the queue hits the end of the block, then it wraps around. So long as the block is big enough, the front of the queue will never catch up with the back. Every location of the snake (i.e., the single int coordinate) from the tail to the head (i.e., backwards) is stored in the ring buffer. This gives speed benefits because no matter how long the snake gets, only the head, tail and the first segment after the head (if it exists) need to be changed as it moves. Storing it backwards is also beneficial because when the snake gets food, the snake will grow when its next moved. This is done by moving the head one location in the ring buffer and changing the old head location to become a segment. The snake is made up of a head, 0-n segments), and then a tail. When the snake eats food, the atefood variable is set to 1 and checked in the function DoSnakeMove() Moving the Snake We use two index variables, headindex and tailindex to point to the head and tail locations in the ring buffer. These start at 1 (headindex) and 0. So location 1 in the ring buffer holds the location (0-255) of the snake on the board. Location 0 holds the tail location. When the snake moves one location forward, both the tailindex and headindex are incremented by one, wrapping round to 0 when they reach 256. So now the location that was the head is where the tail is. Even with a very long snake that is winding and convoluted in say 200 segments. only the headindex, segment next to the head and tailindex change each time it moves. Note because of the way SDL works, we have to draw the entire snake every frame. Every element is drawn into the frame buffer then flipped so its displayed. This has one advantage though in that we could draw the snake smoothly moving a few pixels, not an entire grid position.