Somnambulism: Recent Findings

Somnambulism is characterized as a parasomnia occurring during slow-wave sleep stages. It is also an autosomal dominant disorder, and its genetic locus has been identified at chromosome 20 q12-q13.12. The prevalence of somnambulism among children and adults has been estimated as 1–6%. Among the specific environmental factors precipitating somnambulistic episodes in adults, prescription drug use, alcohol, emotional stress, sleep deprivation, and certain psychiatric conditions have been suggested. Somnambulistic patients frequently cause injuries to themselves, family members who sleep nearby, and in-hospital settings to nurses who attend on them. Even cases of homicidal somnambulism have been reported. The lack of a suitable animal model to study somnambulism in controlled settings hinder appropriate pharmaceutical protocols to prevent this disorder among humans. Partial or total alleviation of somnambulistic symptoms in children and adults deserves the attention of health researchers

Smart city street lighting system: An engineering internship at Eco-FX LED

This final year honours thesis project was undertaken with Eco-FX; it involved consulting, designing and developing their new Smart City Street Lighting System. Smart Street Lighting utilises wireless control and monitoring to produce a more energy efficient and sustainable street light system. Previously, the technology and the wider community were obstacles in its development; presently with advancement in wireless low data rate protocols and support from the Western Australian Local Government Association, the development of the system is approaching its completion. To consult on the design and development for this project required vast amounts of research about the existing lighting technologies, public utilities and low data rate wireless protocols. The methodology was to research and evaluate all protocol and hardware technologies available. These technology options were presented to the relevant stakeholders for discussion; and then the final design specification was approved. The ZigBee protocol met final design specifications and requirements for Eco-FX; therefore the ZigBee Alliance was contacted to find the best approach in designing to their standard. After the guidance from the ZigBee Alliance, more research was conducted on the hardware and the services required for implementing the Smart City Street Light System. The final stage in the project was finding manufacturers and designers for the required hardware and software to develop the system in China. The previous research and evaluation provided guidance in specifying to the manufacturer and designer all the critical features required by Eco-FX in the system; and ensured all Australian and international standards were met in the manufacturing and designing process

Nobel Prize Winners for Literature as Palliative for Scientific English

Laments the poor quality of contemporary scientific writing, suggesting a reading list of Nobel Prize-winning authors (e.g. Bernard Shaw, Bertrand Russell, Hemingway) for those medical scientists interested in improving their writing skills. Praises Hemingway’s economical prose style and clarity of thought in his 1920 essay entitled “A Free Shave.

Nutritional Studies on the Utilization of Winged Bean (Psophocarpus Tetragonolobus L. Dc) Seeds and Leaves (Carotenoids, Bean-Curd, Anti-Nutrients, Reversed Phase Hplc, Phytic Acid)

157 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1986.Protein, fat, mineral and anti-nutrient contents of seed flour of 12 cultivars of winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus L.DC) grown in Sri Lanka were determined. Protein and oil contents in dehulled seed flour ranged from 37.4-46.9 and 20.0-26.5% on dry weight basis, respectively. Of the anti-nutrients, phytic acid and trypsin inhibitor levels ranged 1.0-1.7% and 52.5-99.5 trypsin inhibitor units/mg ground flour, respectively. Tannin content in the whole seed flour varied between 0.2 and 0.7mg catechin equivalents/g four. pH modification markedly affected the solubility of nitrogen, phytic acid and minerals in seed flour slurries.Procedures for the preparation of 100% winged bean or mixed winged bean-soybean curd employing the essential steps of soycurd production have been developed and optimized. Use of MgSO(,4), glucono delta lactone, acetic acid and CaSO(,4) as coagulants was investigated. CaSO(,4) precipitation resulted in a semi-solid and appreciably cohesive curd from winged bean. Winged bean curd had very low hardness value in comparison to soy tofu.The growth performance of weanling rats fed one of three test diets of winged bean seed flour (WBSF) prepared by using village scale processing methods was studied. Five groups, each consisting of six animals, were fed the following diets: 10% protein from casein, untreated WBSF, dry heat-treated WBSF, wet heat-treated WBSF or no protein. Untreated WBSF and dry heat-treated WBSF diets were not conducive for growth. The Net Protein Ratio (NPR) values calculated for casein-fed rats and wet heat-treated rats were 3.27 and 0.56, respectively. PER values of casein and wet heat-treated diets were similar to the previously published reports for autoclaved winged bean flour. This study suggests that the protein quality of WBSF prepared from 30 minutes boiled seeds is comparable to that of WBSF prepared by autoclaving, a method not available at the village level.A reversed-phase HPLC method, utilized to analyze carotenoids in blood was modified to evaluate (alpha)- and (beta)-carotene contents of winged bean leaves. (beta)-carotene levels ranged from 3.3 (+OR-) 0.2mg/100g fresh edible portion in raw, tender leaves to 6.6 (+OR-) 0.3mg/100g in raw mature leaves. (alpha)-carotene levels ranged from 0.5 (+OR-) 0.2mg/100g in raw tender leaves to 0.7 (+OR-) 0.2mg/100g in raw mature leaves.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD