Monday, July 20, 2020
How to Reverse Brain Damage From Long-Term Alcohol Use
How to Reverse Brain Damage From Long-Term Alcohol Use Addiction Alcohol Use Print Quit Drinking to Reverse Alcoholic Brain Damage New cells can develop for years after quitting alcohol By Buddy T facebook twitter Buddy T is an anonymous writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism. Learn about our editorial policy Buddy T Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on November 22, 2019 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD on November 22, 2019 TEK IMAGE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Getty Images More in Addiction Alcohol Use Binge Drinking Withdrawal and Relapse Children of Alcoholics Drunk Driving Addictive Behaviors Drug Use Nicotine Use Coping and Recovery When people who drink alcohol heavily stop drinking, some of the brain damage that long-time alcohol use can cause may reverse and some memory loss they may experience may stop. Scientists have established that the shrinkage that alcohol can cause in some regions of the brain that results in cognitive damage will begin to reverse when alcohol stays out of the body for lengthening periods of time.?? To understand this important news for people recovering from alcoholism, it is key to understand how alcohol affects the brain. Impact of Alcohol on the Brain Doctors and researchers sometimes use the term alcohol-related cognitive impairment to refer to the damaging impact that repeated excessive alcohol consumption can have on the brainâs ability to function.?? Some of this impact stems directly from alcoholâs poisonous effects on the brain. Areas of the brain most likely to be damaged by alcoholism include the frontal lobeâ"responsible for higher-level mental skills as the ability to think logically and the ability to exert behavioral controlâ"and the cerebellum, which gives the brain its ability to control and coordinate muscle movements.?? How Alcohol Damages the Brain How MRI Testing Tracks Brain Recovery In the study published in 2015 in Addiction Biology, researchers from the San Francisco VA Medical Center and UC San Francisco used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to examine the brains of a group of people who were recovering from alcoholism and abstaining from alcohol.?? Each study participant underwent MRI testing after being alcohol-freeâ"for one week, one month and seven and a half months. The researchers conducted multiple scans to track the changing state of the brain over time. The MRI research revealed that alcohol abstinence led to brain volume increases in key areas including the frontal lobe and cerebellum. This involved both gray matter and white matter. When the researchers studied the positive changes in gray matter volume, they concluded that most of these changes occurred in the three-week span between the end of the first week of abstinence and the end of the first month of abstinence. The positive changes in white matter volume occurred at a fairly consistent pace throughout the seven and a half months of abstinence. Birth of New Brain Cells With Alcohol Abstinence Earlier research conducted in 2004 on lab rats at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hills Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies was the first to show a burst of new brain cell development as a result of abstinence from chronic alcohol consumption.?? The Bowles research team examined the brain cell growth in adult rats that were given an amount of alcohol over a four-day period that produced alcohol dependence. The researchers found that alcohol dependency slowed neurogenesis or brain cell development. The research found that new cell growth took place in the brains hippocampus with as little as four to five weeks of alcohol abstinence, including a twofold burst in brain cell growth on the seventh day of being alcohol-free. The Number of Brain Cells Can Continue to Grow as an Adult It was long thought that the number of neurons in the adult brain was established early in life, but it is now known that the adult brain is capable of neurogenesis or the production of new neurons. A study looking at the emergence of new brain cells after abstinence from alcohol found that there were bursts of new cell development in the hippocampus at 48 hours after abstinence. Then there was another burst in the hippocampus and regions of another part of the brain, the cortex, at seven days of being alcohol-free. The Brain Remains Impaired Early in Recovery Since research has shown that the brain is impaired early on in recovery, the medical community has come to understand that it is important to not bombard people seeking alcohol recovery help with too much information early on.?? This can affect the effectiveness of alcoholism treatment programs in the first weeks of recovery and abstinence. Research on lab animals suggests that new brain cell growth can also be promoted by increased physical activity. How Exercise Can Help With Addiction
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Small Talk Why Germans Wont Tell You How They Feel
One of the many clichà ©s about Germany and the Germans says that they act in a not very friendly or even rude manner towards strangers. You might get that impression when you first come to Germany and try to get to know somebody else on a train, a bar or at work. Especially as an American, you might be used to getting in contact with strangers really quickly. In Germany, you probably wont. It is a scientifically proven factà that German people simply dont chat in public places when they dont know each other. But what is often interpreted as rude manners, is more like a basic inability of Germans to small talk - they simply are not used to it. For Most Germans, Small Talk is a Waste of Time So, if you get the impression that Germans are not willing to talk to you, it isnt a result of their grumpy mood. In fact, it comes more from another behavior often observed on Germans: They are said to be very direct and trying to be effective in what they are doing - thats why most of them dont think it is necessary to small talk as it costs time without producing measurable results. For them, its simply a waste of time. That doesnt mean that Germans never talk to strangers. That would make them very lonely people very soon. It is more about the kind of small talk that is very common in the USA like e.g. asking your opposite about how she feels and she will answer that shes feeling fine whether it is true or not. You will rarely come across that kind of conversation here in Germany. Yet, as soon as you get to know someone a little better and ask him how he feels, he will probably tell you that hes feeling basically fine but that hes got a lot of stress at work, doesnt sleep well and has come over a little cold lately. In other words: Hell be more honest with you and share his feelings. Its said that its not too easy to make German friends, but once youve managed to befriend one, he or she will be a real and loyal friend. I dont need to tell you that not all Germans are the same and especially young people are very open towards foreigners. It might be due to the fact that they are able to communicate better in English than the older Germans. It is more a basic cultural difference that becomes obvious in daily situations with strangers. The Case of Walmart In the opinion of many Germans, Americans talk a lot without saying anything. It leads to the stereotype that the US-culture is superficial. A good example of what can happen if you ignore this difference in public friendliness towards others is the failure of Walmart in Germany about ten years ago. Besides the big competition in the German food-discounter market, Walmarts problems to deal with German labor-union culture and other economic reasons distressed the German employees and customers. While it is common in the US that you are welcomed by a greeter smiling at you when you enter the store, Germans are rather confused by this kind of unexpected friendliness. A stranger wishing me a pleasant shopping and even asking me how I feel? Let me just do my shopping and leave me alone. Even the discreet smile of the cashiers at Wall Mart didnt fit into the German culture of dealing with strangers with a healthy professional distance.à Not Rude but Effective On the other hand, Germans in comparison to many Americans are rather direct when offering criticism or appreciation. Also in service places like a post office, a pharmacy or even at the hairdressers, Germans come in, say what they want, take it and leave again without extending their stay more than necessary to get the job done. For Americans, this must feel like someoneà fà ¤llt mit der Tà ¼r ins Haus and downright rude. This behavior is also linked to the German language. Just think about compound words: It gives you all the information that you need as precisely as possible in just one word. Punkt. A Fußbodenschleifmaschinenverleih is a rental shop for floor grinding machines - one word in German vs. six words in English.à A while ago we even found a study that actually claims to prove such a connection.à Perhaps some stereotypes have their Daseinsberechtigung. Next time you are trying to small talk with a German just say to yourself: Theyre not rude, theyre just effective. Just in case you are interested in avoiding the many traps of intercultural differences I strongly recommend the book Doing Business with Germans by Sylvia Schroll-Machl. We gift this to all our clients for good reasons.
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd ) - 2353 Words
Abstract Individuals that show to have Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are significantly affected both mentally and emotionally due to the exposure to a traumatic event. PTSD is a life-long disorder that is being seen diagnosed more and more among returning soldiers and sexually-violated individuals. Because of its increased detection, the importance of constructing effective treatments for individuals living with PTSD is becoming increasingly recognized. Although effectively treating PTSD has shown to be rather difficult and complicated, there have been potential breakthroughs, and a large amount of research is still being devoted to discovering treatments for this disorder. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature thatâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦The first criterion, exposure to a traumatic event, is central to PTSD. One has to be exposed, either directly or indirectly (e.g. learning about a traumatic event), in order for them to acquire PTSD. Only being exposed to a tra umatic event is not enough to acquire this disorder, though, indicating that the acquisition of this disorder is associated with both environmental and genetic causes. The rest of the criteria for PTSD are direct consequences of this first criterion (Friedman, 2013). Intrusion symptoms are those such as recurring memories, dreams, and flashbacks of the traumatic event that are distressful and unwanted. Intrusion symptoms also include psychological and physiological responses when exposed to reminders of the traumatic event (Friedman, 2013). Avoidance symptoms are the avoidant actions an individual takes to counter the intrusion symptoms. Since these intrusion symptoms are of a distressful nature, an individual might consistently and determinately attempt to avoid all things (memories, dreams, flashbacks, environmental reminders) related to the traumatic event (Friedman, 2013). The fourth criterion, negative alterations in cognitions and mood,
Madam Free Essays
Introduction to Roman Society and Culture Erik Gunderson (e. gunderson@utoronto. ca) TR10-12; Brennan Hall 200 Of? ce Hours at Lilian Massey 207: M 2-3; TR 9-10; and by appointment Description: Our goal is to become familiar with some of the key events, personalities, and themes of Roman civilization. We will write a custom essay sample on Madam or any similar topic only for you Order Now We will examine in particular those issues that the Romans themselves emphasized as essential aspects of Roman identity. Evaluation: mid-term exam: in-class essay: ? nal examination: Texts: Required: Livy, Livy The Early History of Rome, Books I-V. Penguin) (ISBN: 978-0140448092) Petronius, Satyricon (Penguin) (ISBN: 978-0140444896) Course reader Suggested: Karl Christ, The Romans: An Introduction to Their History and Civilization (California) (ISBN: 0520056345) On-Line: http://antisigma. classics. utoronto. ca/classes/2011-12/cla233_wi2012/ [user: cla233; pass: wi2012] https://portal. utoronto. ca/ [check here in case there are problems with the above] 30% 30% 40% CLA233 Syllabus 1 Week Date 1 10 Jan 12 Jan 2 17 Jan 19 Jan 3 24 Jan 26 Jan 4 31 Jan 02 Feb 5 07 Feb Theme Introduction Warriors Reading Livy, History of Rome, Book 1 Livy, History of Rome, Book 1 Livy, History of Rome, Book 5 Livy, History of Rome, Book 5 Plutarch, Life of Aemilius Paulus Ruler and ruled Quintus Cicero, Essay on Running for Consul Plautus, Pseudolus Petronius, Satyricon, ââ¬Å"Dinner with Trimalchioâ⬠09 Feb Mid-term exam 6 14 Feb Speakers 16 Feb Quintilian, Institutes, Book 12 Tacitus, Dialogue on Oratory Reading Week 7 28 Feb 01 Mar Members of a family 8 06 Mar 08 Mar 9 13 Mar Social performers 15 Mar In-class paper 10 20 Mar 22 Mar 11 27 Mar Polytheists 29 Mar 12 03 Apr 05 Apr Conclusion Seneca, Moral Letters, Book 1 Suetonius, Life of Nero Livy 39. -19; Apuleius, Golden Ass, Book 11 Lucretius 1. 1-158; Plautus, Amphytruo, prologue Lucian, Alexander Sample declamations; Petronius, ââ¬Å"Puteoliâ⬠+ ââ¬Å"Eumolpusâ⬠Cicero, Letters to his Friends, Books 14 16 Tacitus, Annales 13. 1-30; 14. 1-28 Plautus, Aulularia Pliny, Letters, Book 3 CLA233 Syllabus 2 Administrative notes: 1. I f any member of the class is obliged to miss a test for reasons beyond his/her control, there will be no make-up exam, and the weight of the exam in question will be transferred to the next comparable element of the course requirements. Only illness, serious personal af? iction, religious obligation, and unforeseeable duties of family care will be considered good reasons for missing a test. Satisfactory evidence must be provided. If such evidence is not provided, the exam will be given zero as its score. 2. The instructor is happy to see individual members of the class to discuss any aspect of the course. But please note that this does not mean that the instructor will give private tuition to individuals. In particular, he cannot be expected to give tuition that merely repeats material covered in regular class time. Instruction is given in the classroom only. During the of? ce hours indicated above members of the class should feel free to drop by the instructorââ¬â¢s of? ce without any need to make an appointment. If, however, these hours do not suit your timetable, please see the instructor at the end of class, or get in touch by telephone or email, to make an appointment at a time that suits both parties. . Members of the class are free to consult the instructor by e-mail where this is appropriate, but are asked to keep this to a minimum. Matters that need only a few momentsââ¬â¢ attention can be dispensed with more conveniently in a direct personal exchange at the end of a class. Members of the class should need no reminding that e-mail requests for individual tuition in the form of, for example, detailed questions on texts discussed in a class which a given individual did no t attend will not be granted. 4. In cases of academic misconduct the instructor will assume that all members of the class are familiar with the Facultyââ¬â¢s codes of behavior on academic matters and student conduct. See The Faculty of Arts and Science Calendar (http://www. artsandscience. utoronto. ca/ofr/ calendar/rules. htm#behaviour). If you are unfamiliar with these codes and the binding de? nitions of terms such as plagiarism, you are expected to become acquainted with them before submitting any work for this course. CLA233 Syllabus 3 How to cite Madam, Papers
Sunday, April 26, 2020
PCB Pollution Essays - Monsanto, Pollutants,
PCB Pollution The Hudson River is a body of water that stretches for 315 miles from the Adirondack Mountains to the Battery in Manhattan, reaching its deepest point of 216 feet in the Highlands near Constitution Island and West Point and reaches its widest point of 3 miles across at Havestraw. This river is one of the most beautiful and scenic of the Tri-State area. Unfortunately, it happens to be New York's most polluted river. The river has been influenced upon since the early 1600's, when Englishman Henry Hudson commanded the Dutch ship Half Moon on an exploration of the river, certain that he had discovered a trade route to China. It soon dawned that this was no Atlantic-to-Pacific passage but an Edenlike place of awesome potential-a river valley teeming with prospect and spirit that was worth fighting for. In the centuries that followed, the fight for the river and its commerce never stopped, and still continues to the present. Then during the Industrial Revolution, with the advent of hulking manufacturing plants on the riverbanks, everything changed. The river became a sewer, cut off from the people around it by the electrification of the railroads. The 1825 completion of the Erie Canal instantly opened trade to the Midwest by linking Troy to Buffalo and established the Hudson River as the major commerce channel for New York City. Tycoons transformed the landscape in New York and across the country with the railroad, and the Hudson River valley became a hotbed for iron mining, limestone quarrying and clear-cutting. Toward the 19th century, when dynamite blasting was reducing the face of the Palisades to rubble, conservationists became alarmed that something was being lost to progress. In 1900, New York and New Jersey established the Palisades Interstate Park Commission to preserve the cliffs from further quarrying. Although conservation efforts continued into the 20th century, there was no progress to protect the Hudson River and its banks from industrial pollution. Some of the largest factories in the nation started production on the Hudson River, including Anaconda Wire and Cable in Hastings-on-Hudson and GM in the present day Sleepy Hallow, discharging waste into the river. There are numerous known contaminated sites around the U.S. Among the most dangerous of these, and of particular concern to residents of the Hudson Valley, are the forty "hot spots" in the Hudson River resulting from the dumping and leakage from General Electric plants at Fort Edward and Hudson Falls. From 1947 to 1977, these two plants legally discharged from 500,000 to 1.5 million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson, and unknowingly saturated the bedrock beneath both sites with at least that much again. There are PCBs in Hudson River water, biota, and sediment from Hudson Falls to New York City - 200 miles that comprise the nations largest Superfund site. Pure PCBs are oozing out of the bedrock to this day, constantly recontaminating the river and over 300,000 pounds remain concentrated in bottom sediments of the river today. The spread of PCBs throughout the Hudson River and the food chain, which it supports, has created one of the most extensive hazardous waste problems in the nation. Polychlorinated biphenyl's (PCBs) are a group of synthetic oil-like chemicals (therefore insoluble in water) of the organochlorine family. Until their toxic nature was recognized and their use was banned in the 1970s, they were widely used as insulation in electrical equipment, particularly transformers. Reputable chemists have since concluded, "it was probably a mistake ever to make or use PCBs." These are serious poisons, which have been shown to cause damage to the reproductive, neurological and immune systems of wildlife and humans and are known to cause cancer. Exposure has also been linked to behavioral damage. Specifically, because PCBs in the body mimic estrogen, women of childbearing age and their infants are particularly susceptible to a variety of development and reproductive disorders. Once in the body, these compounds do one of two things: they block the normal passage of hormones into their receptors, or, mimic the hormone itself and enter the receptor in lieu of the hormone. By doing so can irrevocably alter and damage the development of the organism. Small amounts of PCBs are taken up by microscopic organisms in the riverbed and passed up through the food chain. PCBs accumulate in microorganisms, which are eaten by small fish, which are eaten by big fish, which are eaten by bigger fish still, and so on up the food chain. The process by which PCBs concentrate at higher and higher levels up the food chain is called
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Describe the Factors Affecting Majority Influence Essays
Describe the Factors Affecting Majority Influence Essays Describe the Factors Affecting Majority Influence Essay Describe the Factors Affecting Majority Influence Essay A study was carried out by Solomon Asch which showed the factors which affected majority influence. In his study he wanted to see how group pressure affects group tasks with an obvious answer. The method he used to carry out this study was by using eight male students were arranged around a table but only one of them however was a real participant who turns up late and the others were confederates of the researchers. The task was to identify out of the 3 lines shown on a board which of the lines (A, B or C) was the same length as the test line (X). They answered out loud in turn and the confederates were all told to answer the same incorrect letter. The real participant had a chance to see what the other participantsââ¬â¢ answers were, but not right at the end as he may become suspicious. It was important for him to see what the other participantsââ¬â¢ answers were because when it was his turn to answer, the researcher gets an idea if the participantââ¬â¢s answer had been influenced by the majority. Asch found that 32% of the genuine participants conformed on the trials and only 26% of people never conformed. From this study, it is shown that group size is an important factor which affects majority influence, the larger the group size the more conformity there is; but only to a point. After about 5 or 6 people, Asch found that more people had very little difference on the amount of conformity. This may be due to the fact that people have guessed the purpose of the experiment. Another factor is majority size and the presence of an ââ¬Ëallyââ¬â¢. If the majority is unanimous, conformity is much more likely, but if there is even one other person disagreeing with the majority even if it isnt the same as your own opinion then the levels of conformity drops dramatically especially if there is someone who continually disagrees. Asch also investigated that the method of making a decision was another factor, when the participants make their decision by writing it down, conformity fell, this is because the decision is more private and the participant is more removed from it. If a decision is made anonymously and by writing it down such as voting, the levels of conformity are zero since nobody will know what you have written. Another very important factor is personal characteristics as younger adolescents between the age of 12/13 to 15/16 were the most likely age group to conform.
Monday, March 2, 2020
How to Implement OnCreate Event for Delphi TFrame Object
How to Implement OnCreate Event for Delphi TFrame Object TFrame is a container for components; it can be nested within forms or other frames. A frame, like a form, is a container for other components. Frames can be nested within forms or other frames, and they can be saved on the Component palette for easy reuse. Missing OnCreate Once you start using frames, youll note theres no OnCreate event you can use to initialize your frames. In short, the reason that a frame does not have a OnCreate event is there is no good time to fire the event. However, by overriding the Create method you can mimic the OnCreate event. After all, the OnCreate for Forms gets fired at the end of the Create constructor - so overriding Create for Frames is as having the OnCreate event. Heres the source code of a simple frame exposing a public property and overriding the Create constructor: unit WebNavigatorUnit;interface uses à à Windows, Messages, SysUtils, Variants, Classes, à à Graphics, Controls, Forms, Dialogs, StdCtrls; type à à TWebNavigatorFrame class(TFrame)à à à à urlEdit: TEdit;à à private à à à à fURL: string;à à à à procedure SetURL(const Value: string) ;à à public à à à à constructor Create(AOwner: TComponent) ; override;à à published à à à à property URL : string read fURL write SetURL;à à end;implementation{$R *.dfm} constructor TWebNavigatorFrame.Create(AOwner: TComponent) ;begin à à inherited Create(AOwner) ;à //OnCreate code à à URL : http://delphi.about.com; end;procedure TWebNavigatorFrame.SetURL(const Value: string) ;begin à à fURL : Value; à à urlEdit.Text : Value; end;end. The WebNavigatorFrame acts as a website launcher hosting an edit and a button control. Note: if you are new to frames, make sure you read the following two articles: visual component development using frames, replacing tabsheets with frames.
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