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raptor

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Posts posted by raptor

  1. In short, my opinion is that you are vastly overestimating what these drugs are capable of.

     

    I'm relatively unfamiliar with the subject, so I did a pubmed search using the keyword "nootropic" and searched within clinical trials. Looking over the first page, it appears the vast majority are studies performed in patients with dementia and alzheimers.

     

    Also, you have to consider how we measure the effects of these drugs. From an experimental standpoint imagine the difficulties in measuring "academic performance" or cognitive fucntion in a group of treated patients vs. controls.

     

    So in my opinion there are a lot of drawbacks. First, our limited knowledge (depending on how you look at it) of how thoughts and the brain work in general. Second, devloping an objective measure of "intelligence", "smart" etc. to measure the effects of these drugs.

     

    Seems to me the debate is somewhat far off. Perhaps there are others familiar with these compounds.

     

    What about secondary/tertiary students using stimulants (amphetamines, methylphenidate, caffeine...) to help them work longer when under a lot of pressure for exams etc, this is not unheard of.

  2. I think they're asking whether it is apoptosis or necrosis in that specific case.

     

    edit:

    From wikipedia it looks like the streptozotocin is absorbed into the cells like glucose by GLUT2 where it causes DNA damage, and the cell responds by apoptosis.

     

    p53 reacts to severe DNA damage by triggering apoptosis, I think this is part of the intrinsic pathway but I'm not sure.

  3. I'm confused. The bottle says "safe as coffee" and "The recommended dose of this product contains about as much caffeine as a cup of coffee" yet it also says "take 1/2 to 1 caplet not more often than every 3 to 4 hours." I've coffee at a rate far greater than one cup every three to four hours before with no ill effects, so I'm confused. Is the bottle exaggerating, or do I have a tolerance from years of caffeine use? Each pill is 200mg. Either way, they keep me awake during class.

    They're just recommending safe levels, and you probably shouldn't have that much caffeine over long periods as it can lead to health problems such as heart arrythmias even if the acute symptoms aren't that bad.

  4. I'd personally recommend you try a herbal product, "St John's Wort".

     

    It has long had a reputation for helping with depression in particular, I think it's suspected to act somewhat like an SSRI.

     

    I tried taking a few tablets and after a day or so I noticed subtle effects on mood, generally that I was happier, less worried and more emotionally stable.

     

    It did seem to also affect concentration slightly, making me feel somewhat sleepy (I actually turned to it because of insomnia but it was still a bit counter-productive sometimes).

     

    I don't think it has many drug interactions besides oral contraceptives and some psychoactive drugs especially things like ecstasy or other anti-depressants which i assume you are not taking.

     

    It's available over the counter in most places and it's not terribly expensive.

     

    In my experience I haven't noticed major side effects or withdrawal symptoms like those reported with SSRIs, though much of this is very subjective.

  5. Next: Top 10 Things NOT to Put in Your Mouth

     

    10. Superglue

    9. Glow-in-the-dark radium paintbrush in the days before nuclear safety.

    8. Confetti you find at a party and fail to recognize as LSD.

    7. Switchblade with far-too-sensitive button.

    6. Fugu prepared by antisocial and/or dangerously incompetent Japanese Chef.

    5. Gun barrel to satisfy oral fixation.

    4. Live grenade, having just thrown the safety pin by mistake.

    3. Elemental potassium

    2. Gloved hand after working with a patient who's flu-like symptoms tragically turn out to be ebola.

    1. Liquid nitrogen.

     

    Next: Ten most bizarre motives/excuses for killing someone.

  6. Those are the most toxic eg. sarin, tabun, VX etc. while a lot of similar compounds are powerful insecticides eg. parathion.

     

    Most of these seem to be esters of methylphosphonic acid or similar, though most of the insecticides have the double bonded oxygen replaced with a sulfur.

  7. as most of us know the conventional rail gun uses 2 rails and an armature to complete the circuit causing the 2 rails to repel and shoot the armature at very high velocities. whati want to know is why thishappend. the force is applied perpendicular to the rails and not parallel to it. why would a force that is acting perpendicular be able to force out the armature at such speeds.

    :confused: :confused:

    The forces on the rails are perpendicular, but the current also travels through the projectile. The field from the two rails creates a force on the projectile parallel to the rails.

     

    (If you don't know this already by now)

  8. Re KMnO4 and methanol-

    "just mix the two' date=' maybe heat a little. i dont think heat is required. you'll end up with a precipitate. just gravity filter"

    I don't think that's a good idea. Mixing solutions of the 2 in water is a safer bet.[/quote']

    In my experience, mixing [math]KMnO_{4}[/math] and methylated spirits will cause the mixture to ignite.

     

    Does anyone know how dimethyl methylphosphonate is produced industrially (I think mostly as a flame retardant)?

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