Adderall Abuse Among College Students: Unveiling Underlying Motivations

Adderall is the most common stimulant prescribed to individuals with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). There is a growing body of evidence revealing how Adderall abuse is most commonly linked to academic enhancement. But there is limited research suggesting why Adderall abuse is still on the rise, and why it is so easily accessible despite its detrimental effects on the body. To assess this growing issue, the current study investigated whether doctors are properly monitoring the side effects of Adderall, while uncovering a potential underlying motivation of Adderall abuse for weight loss. This study identified a large sample of college students with and without a prescription for Adderall who I predicted were all at risk of abusing Adderall for weight loss (N=70). All participants were asked to complete a self-survey questionnaire which included questions from the adult ADHD self-report scale given as one of the predominant approaches in diagnosing ADHD in adults, measures of the participants’ Adderall usage, and a measure of the individual\u27s attitude toward eating. Results revealed that individuals with a script for Adderall scored higher on the ADHD self-report questions, and took Adderall more frequently than individuals without a prescription. While there was no significant relationship between individuals with or without a prescription for Adderall and uses for weight loss, 27.5% of the participants reported being satisfied with experiencing weight loss due to Adderall and six of those participants had a prescription for Adderall. Three of those participants had asked for an increase in their dose after noticing weight loss and four of those participants reported not telling anybody about their weight loss due to Adderall. I hope to shed light on the importance of receiving and acknowledging adequate and competent information towards Adderall to ensure doctors are prescribing Adderall for the proper reasons, and patients are more aware and informed of the harmful side effects

Nadia Urbinati (2019) Me the people. How Populism Transforms Democracy. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.

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The Great Recession vs The Covid-19 Pandemic: Unemployment and Implications for Public Policy

The Great Recession lasted from December 2007 until June 2009 and was one of the most severe recessions since the post-war period. It took about two years from the time of the unraveling of the U.S. housing market and mortgages, until the collapse of Lehman Brothers—as the crisis spread to the rest of the financial sector of the economy. The Covid-19 Pandemic erupted from a public health crisis at the end of January 2020 and unlike the Great Recession, employment collapsed sharply in a matter of weeks, leaving millions without work by April 2020. The Covid-19 Pandemic has demonstrated an extraordinary example of how the response to the crisis produced a negative impact on the economy, regardless of social class. However, the negative impact has been disproportionately spread in the economy, with some communities devoid of any assistance from the government. This thesis seeks to answer the question of how to reorient public policy in the face of a recession. Namely, the question about how to generate the relief that households need to undertake the virus and flatten the curve, while also combatting the employment problem at the same time. Due to the tangible feeling of insecurity across households at all levels of income, Covid-19 has created a rare policy window to execute an unconventional policy to mitigate the record employment losses, especially in sectors of the economy that were affected the most, such as leisure and hospitality. It also opens a policy window to rethink the ways in which to go about Pandemics and Recessions in the future. This thesis concludes with the policy solution that to address the mass employment losses in all sectors, it is viable to combine counter-cyclical, short-term targeted cash transfers to households. This policy should be followed by job creation, with the goal of a sustainable and “green recovery” as another national priority

A Controlled Increase in Dietary Phosphate Elevates BP in Healthy Human Subjects.

Background Despite epidemiologic evidence for increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality associated with both high dietary and serum phosphate in humans with normal renal function, no controlled phosphate intervention studies of systemic hemodynamics have been reported. Higher serum 25(OH) vitamin D levels are associated with better cardiovascular outcomes, but vitamin D increases intestinal phosphate absorption.Methods We conducted a prospective outpatient study with blinded assessment in 20 young adults with normal renal function randomized to high phosphate (regular diet plus 1 mmol/kg body wt per day of Na as neutral sodium phosphate) or low phosphate (regular diet plus lanthanum, 750 mg thrice/day, plus 0.7 mmol/kg body wt per day of Na as NaCl) for 11 weeks. After 6 weeks, all subjects received vitamin D3 (600,000 U) by intramuscular injection. Outcome parameters were 24-hour ambulatory systolic and diastolic BP (SBP and DBP), pulse rate (PR), biomarkers, and measures of endothelial and arterial function.Results Compared with the low-phosphate diet group, the high-phosphate diet group had a significant increase in mean±SEM fasting plasma phosphate concentration (0.23±0.11 mmol/L); 24-hour SBP and DBP (+4.1; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 2.1 to 6.1; and +3.2; 95% CI, 1.2 to 5.2 mm Hg, respectively); mean 24-hour PR (+4.0; 95% CI, 2.0 to 6.0 beats/min); and urinary metanephrine and normetanephrine excretion (54; 95% CI, 50 to 70; and 122; 95% CI, 85 to 159 µg/24 hr, respectively). Vitamin D had no effect on any of these parameters. Neither high- nor low-phosphate diet nor vitamin D affected endothelial function or arterial elasticity.Conclusions Increased phosphate intake (controlled for sodium) significantly increases SBP, DBP, and PR in humans with normal renal function, in part, by increasing sympathoadrenergic activity

Populist Government and Constitutional Democracy

Until the first decade of the 21th century, scholars and reporters have identified contemporary populism as an element of anti-systemic revolt; furthermore, they have also recognized an incompatibility between populist phenomenon and government function. However, some recent cases of populist parties in power seem to be able to put into crisis more than one certainty regarding the nature and scope of the populist phenomenon. This observation raises the questions of this work: what harmful effects does populism in government produce on liberal institutions, pluralism, and representation in constitutional democracies? Do these effects merely erode the liberal component, or do they extend to produce a degeneration of democracy as a whole? And finally: what are the risks for democracy? The article corroborates the diarchic theories of democracy and aims to demonstrate the lack of compatibility between the principles of liberal democracy and populist principles, which have a negative impact not only on the liberal component, but also on the quality of democracy in its entirety

Pier Giorgio Ardeni, Le radici del populismo. Disuguaglianze e consenso elettorale in Italia. Bari-Roma, Editori Laterza, 2020.

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Il Sistema Museale dell’Università di Pavia ai tempi del coronavirus

Kosmos, the new cultural project of the University of Pavia for its Natural History collections Kosmos, the new Natural History Museum, adopted for its new exhibition strategies dedicated to the accessibility of the collections. The gallery was therefore enriched with exhibits and games with the aim of conveying scientific content in an engaging form. For guided tours and workshops Kosmos makes use of the collaboration of ADMaiora, a company that provides educational services. Together with the museum’ staff ADMaiora has developed an educational offer capable of making museum content accessible at all levels, including audiences who present disabilities. To support the visit few didactic kits have been added and a new palaeontology laboratory kit for small groups with cognitive disabilities has been created. Finally, a "social history" document that adopt Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) was drawn up to prepare children with specific relational disabilities to the visit

The use of alteplase, although safe, does not offer clear clinical advantages when mild stroke is non-disabling

IntroductionIt is unknown whether alteplase is effective and safe in patients with mild acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Determining whether symptoms are “disabling” or not is a crucial factor in the management of these patients. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of alteplase in patients with mild, non-disabling AIS.MethodsWe included all consecutive patients admitted for AIS at our institution from January 2015 to May 2022 who presented a baseline NIHSS score of 0–5 and fit the criteria to receive intravenous thrombolysis. In order to select only subjects with non-disabling AIS, we excluded patients who scored more than 1 point in the following NIHSS single items: vision, language, neglect, and single limb. Patients who scored at least 1 point in the NIHSS consciousness item were excluded as well. This study is a retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected database.ResultsAfter the application of the exclusion criteria, we included 319 patients, stratified into patients receiving and not receiving alteplase based on non-disabling symptoms. The two groups were comparable regarding demographic and clinical data. Rates of a 3-month favorable outcome, defined as a 3-month mRS score of 0–1, were similar, being 82.3% and 86.1% in the treated and untreated patients, respectively. Hemorrhagic complications and mortality occurred infrequently and were not affected by alteplase treatment.DiscussionThis observational study suggests that the use of alteplase, although safe, is not associated with a better outcome in highly selected patients with non-disabling AIS