Movie: Tucker - Preston Tucker Essay -- essays research papers

Movie release - Preston TuckerPreston Tucker was a car-crazy kid who hung around auto speedways andgrew up to create an automobile Tucker that was years ahead of its time. He wasa man of pioneering spirit, ingenuity, and daring, who revolutionized Detroitin the 1940s with his stunning car of tomorrow. It was streamlined, futuristic,and fast the car every American dreamed of owning, at a price most people couldafford. When he wanted to start to produce the car he faces a lot of barriers,an oligopoly.In the movie Tucker, thither are only a small number of firms. LikeKaiser-Frazier Automotive Company and Ford Motor Company. Each of the companiesholds a large share and the fulfil from each one may have a great affect on theothers. The product in this movie is car. Car is similar, differentiatedproduct and this is the characteristics of an oligopoly. in that respect are manyproblems when Tucker tries to produce his dream car. Since his car is a new one,he needs to use a lot of adverti sing to further it in order to attract peopleto buy it. Like magazine, car shower, and TV.When Tucker tried to produce his car, he faced many problems. First hehad the financial problem he needed $15 million to produce the bomber engine.However, he did not have enough money, so he issued 4 million shares to raisehis money. Besides, retooling for a model change could cost $20 million andsince his car was a new brand, Tucker was lack of support of the giving firms, sohe needed a lot of money ...

The Division of Religion :: essays research papers fc

The East-West Schism, known also as the Great Schism (though this latter term sometimes refers to the later Western Schism), was the resultant role that divided Chalcedonian Christianity into Western Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Though normally dated to 1054, when Pope Leo IX and Patriarch Michael I excommunicated each other, the East-West Schism was genuinely the result of an extended period of estrangement between the two Churches. The primary causes of the Schism were disputes oer papal authoritythe Pope claimed he held authority oer the four Eastern patriarchs, while the four eastern patriarchs claimed that the primacy of the Patriarch of Rome was only honorary, and thus he had authority only over Western Christiansand over the insertion of the filioque clause into the Nicene Creed. There were other, less significant catalysts for the Schism, including variance over liturgical practices and conflicting claims of jurisdiction.The Church split along doctrinal, theological, linguistic, political, and geographic lines, and the vestigial breach has never been healed. It might be alleged that the two churches actually reunited in 1274 (by the Second Council of Lyons) and in 1439 (by the Council of Basel), but in each case the councils were repudiated by the Orthodox as a whole, given that the hierarchs had overstepped their authority in consenting to these so-called "unions". Further attempts to reconcile the two bodies have failed however, several ecclesiastical communities that in the first place sided with the East changed their loyalties, and are now called Eastern Rite Catholic Churches. For the most part, however, the Western and the Eastern Churches are separate. Each takes the view that it is the "One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church", implying that it was the other group that left the true church during the Schism.Since its earliest days, the Church recognized the special positions of three bishops, who were known as patriarc hs the Bishop of Rome, the Bishop of Alexandria, and the Bishop of Antioch. They were get together by the Bishop of Constantinople and by the Bishop of Jerusalem, both confirmed as patriarchates by the Council of Chalcedon in 451. The patriarchs held both authority and precedence over fellow bishops in the Church. Among them, the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) was deemed to check up on a higher status, by virtue of his position as the successor of Saint Peter. Moreover, the Popes see was of particular importance, as Rome was the capital of the Roman Empire. regular

Multiple Sclerosis Essay -- essays research papers

Multiple Sclerosis, MS for improvident, effects approximately 5 in 10,000 people, and my step-mom Kathy happens to be one of the unlucky few (Rogner 5). MS is a disease that strikes the primal nervous system, which consists of the brain and spinal chord. These two organs control the movement and function of the entire body. Inside the body of a person with MS the electron tube that sends signals throughout the body is either partially of fully blocked, leaving the victim with for starters, impaired vision, strength, and coordination (5). There are a couple of different types of MS, which include relapsing-remitting, first-progressive, secondary-progressive, and primary relapsing (Kalb 5). The type that my step mom has is primary-progressive, which is considered the worst type of MS. According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society a person with primary-progressive MS is &8220characterized by a gradual but steady progression of disability from the onset, with no obvious plate aus or remissions, or only occasional plateaus and minor, temporary improvements. In short this means that the symptoms Kathy is experiencing such as falling down due to a lack of coordination, tiredness, numbness, and bladder problems are only going to get worse. But by chance the worst symptom of all are mental problems such as a loss of self-esteem and feelings of worthlessness. The most obvious effect that MS has on a person is a loss of coordination and balance approximately 77 percent of people af...

Anagnorisis and Existence (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) :: essays research papers

Anagnorisis and ExistenceThe Point of Realization in Stoppards Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are DeadIn Shakespeares juncture, the young prince realizes what living is. Yea, from the table of my memory Ill wipe away all trivial fond records, 105 All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past, That youth and expression copied there And thy commandment all alone shall live Within the book and volume of my brain, Unmixd with baser matter ( village, I, v. 104-110)Upon realizing his fate that he must save the state of Denmark Hamlet must literally discard his prior knowledge and start anew. Aristotle argues that the exact moment when Hamlet realizes his fate by moving from innocence and ignorance to knowledge is the stimulate of tragedy in drama. Aristotles calls this realization that all humans must have anagnorisis. For all the moaning and a whining about his situation, Hamlet will fight whatsoever is rotten in the State of Denmark. (Hamlet, I, iv, 67) Though this self discove ry is integral in Shakespeares tragedy, Stoppards two characters do not even head their fate. And, the result of this lack of action and lack of any anagnorisis in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead when framed against the proactive Hamlet, Fortinbras and Laertes is an interesting commentary on human beings reactions to mortality. close is not romantic, and last is not a game which will soon be over Death is not anything death is not Its the absence of presence, nothing more the endless time of never coming back a gap you cant see, and when the wind blows through it, it makes no sound. (R&D, 124)To Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, death is lying in a box bored. Their inability to comprehend deaths complexity stems from the fact that even when alive, they are hardly present, barely wall hanging onto their existence. If we stopped breathing wed vanish. (R&D, 112)Part of Rosencrantz and Guildensterns lack of existence is Stoppards emphasis on the seeming interchangeability of thei r identities. However, whereas in Hamlet the King, Gertrude and Hamlet mistake the two for each other, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern actually mistake themselves. Their lack of identity leaves the two characters as not human they literally do nothing and do not develop. It is for that reason that, though they discover their fate, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern literally cannot die they dont actually exist. So, when the time comes for their fate to catch up to them, they literally disappear.

The Merger of Allianz Group and Dresdner Bank Essay -- Business Market

The Merger of Allianz Group and Dresdner Bank 1. IntroductionIn our twenty-four hourss mergers and attainments argon a predominant feature of the international business scheme as companies set about to exploit impudently market opport unit of measurementies and to strengthen their market positions. Each family sets a new record for the substance value of mergers and acquisitions and approximately every day new announcements are made in the business newspapers. In the literature one finds a large number of explanations for the occurrence of mergers and acquisitions. Sometimes, these explana-tions are also applicable to related licks of interindustrial links such as joint ventures or strategic alliances. Therefore it is necessary to define the call merger and acquisition as it exit be used throughout this paper.1.1 Definition of the Term Merger and AcquisitionTwo different phenomena are described by the term merger and acquisition. A merger is a combination of two corporat ions in which all one survives and the merged corporation goes out of existence. It is a unification of two or more than firms into a new one and thus characteri-zed by the fact that after unification there are fewer firms than before. On the inappropriate can the designate firm after an acquisition either remain autonomous or be partially and/or wholly integrated into the new parent company. However, from a legal point of view the firms remain indep obliterateent entities.In most of the cases, one company acquires the majority or minority blondness stake in another which is not a true merger in the legal sense. The two companies are not legally united, but form an economic unit where both(prenominal) remain legally independent, a so-called quasi-merger. The term acquisition mainly is used when more than 50% of a companys loveliness are purchased, i.e. the purchaser gains complete control over its target. Equity stakes of lesser percentages are referred to as minority holdin gs. In spite of the legal inconsistency between mergers and acquisi-tions, both terms are often used together. In international business the expression merger and acquisition, abbreviated M & A, or only merger, has become a general term referring to all kind of activities which are related to the selling and buying of a company. It includes classical mergers and acquisitions as well as management-buy-outs and management-buy-ins, minority justness purchases, joint-vent... ...t boost of the operation profitability, a leaner portfolio and reduction of complexity and (the Plus One) sustainable increase of the competitive strength and value. The management judge to increase the total premium income by about 4%. Similarly Dresdner Bank started in August 2003 the so-called New Dresdner program with the following stairs By the end of 2003 the operational performance was stabilized and at the beginning of 2004 the cost-cutting program adopted and the implementation started. By mid 2004 t he revenue process initiatives started as well as the imple-mentation of the new business model and for end of 2004 a positive net income was expected. By mid 2005 the New Dresdner will be imple-mented and by the end of this division cost of capital will be earned. Indeed, the results of last year which just now have been published show that 2004 was a year of profitable growth for Allianz. There was a significant increase in the operating profit which rose by 2.8 billion to 6.9 billion and the net income reached 2.2 billion. The banking instalment Dresdner Bank account an operating profit of 603 million in 2004 (operating loss of 369 million in 2003). The Merger of Allianz Group and Dresdner Bank Essay -- Business market The Merger of Allianz Group and Dresdner Bank 1. IntroductionIn our days mergers and acquisitions are a predominant feature of the international business system as companies attempt to exploit new market opportunities and to strengthen their m arket positions. Each year sets a new record for the total value of mergers and acquisitions and nearly every day new announcements are made in the business newspapers. In the literature one finds a large number of explanations for the occurrence of mergers and acquisitions. Sometimes, these explana-tions are also applicable to related forms of interindustrial links such as joint ventures or strategic alliances. Therefore it is necessary to define the term merger and acquisition as it will be used throughout this paper.1.1 Definition of the Term Merger and AcquisitionTwo different phenomena are described by the term merger and acquisition. A merger is a combination of two corporations in which only one survives and the merged corporation goes out of existence. It is a unification of two or more firms into a new one and thus characteri-zed by the fact that after unification there are fewer firms than before. On the contrary can the target firm after an acquisition either remain auton omous or be partially and/or wholly integrated into the new parent company. However, from a legal point of view the firms remain independent entities.In most of the cases, one company acquires the majority or minority equity stake in another which is not a true merger in the legal sense. The two companies are not legally united, but form an economic unit where both remain legally independent, a so-called quasi-merger. The term acquisition mainly is used when more than 50% of a companys equity are purchased, i.e. the buyer gains complete control over its target. Equity stakes of lesser percentages are referred to as minority holdings. In spite of the legal difference between mergers and acquisi-tions, both terms are often used together. In international business the expression merger and acquisition, abbreviated M & A, or only merger, has become a general term referring to all kind of activities which are related to the selling and buying of a company. It includes classical mergers a nd acquisitions as well as management-buy-outs and management-buy-ins, minority equity purchases, joint-vent... ...t boost of the operation profitability, a leaner portfolio and reduction of complexity and (the Plus One) sustainable increase of the competitive strength and value. The management expected to increase the total premium income by about 4%. Similarly Dresdner Bank started in August 2003 the so-called New Dresdner program with the following steps By the end of 2003 the operational performance was stabilized and at the beginning of 2004 the cost-cutting program adopted and the implementation started. By mid 2004 the revenue growth initiatives started as well as the imple-mentation of the new business model and for end of 2004 a positive net income was expected. By mid 2005 the New Dresdner will be imple-mented and by the end of this year cost of capital will be earned. Indeed, the results of last year which just now have been published show that 2004 was a year of profita ble growth for Allianz. There was a significant increase in the operating profit which rose by 2.8 billion to 6.9 billion and the net income reached 2.2 billion. The banking segment Dresdner Bank reported an operating profit of 603 million in 2004 (operating loss of 369 million in 2003).

Shopaholism Essay example -- Shopping Shop Buying Essays

ShopaholismI have fifty transactions before my exam will be over. Ten minutes have already passed and the only thing Ive written so far is my name. I continue to stare at the black type and attempt to nurse sense of it all. Five minutes remaining and I quickly jot down my final thoughts. My time is up. Usually I would be excited to draw out my exam score, solely this time there was no use in knowing. I knew I failed. I decided not to attend the peacefulness of my classes for the day and instead do what I usually do when I need to forget about my troubles and just escape into my own world where everything is perfective aspect go obtain. After my little excursion to the mall, I came back elated, with a bunch of shopping bags in my hands and a huge bill in my pocket. I find myself escaping reality through shopping quite often, but fortunately I do know my limits however, there are many state who have formed an addiction to shopping. Theyre almost like alcoholics. Reasons for exces sive shopping vary from wanting to keep up with friends or fashion to simply yelling oneself up. But dysfunctional shopping behavior can easily get out of control. Like alcoholism, notes Chicago psychoanalyst Robert Galatzer-Levy, compulsive shopping represents a faux pas of the ordinary pleasures of living getting out of hand. Just as nearly every alcoholic starts out as a social drinker, a shopping addict starts out as a recreational shopper -- bringing a little color into a gray day by picking up a pair (or three) of shoes. About 90 years ago, German psychologist, Emil Kraepelin defined excessive shopping as an illness, calling it oniomania after the Latin onos, or price, but only recently has this disorder begun to be understood. According to Observer Magazin... ...ed because at times I do go shopping to relieve stress and I do come back with lots of bags in my hands, but I dont own a credit card so I know my limits since Im victimisation cash. Now I wonder what will happen when I do get a credit card, but hopefully Ill be alright since Im minify my expenditure on unnecessary items already. I think if we recognize a problem in our spending habits at an early stage, so we can keep open falling victim to shopaholism, but if we continue to deny the problem and go on buying more and more for no apparent reason then the situation may get out of hand and treatment would be needed. Like binge eating or pathological gambling, shopaholism distorts our sense of self and if anyone feels as though he or she might be falling victim to this disorder then it is highly recommended that something is done immediately, before it becomes too late.

Shopaholism Essay example -- Shopping Shop Buying Essays

ShopaholismI have fifty minutes before my exam will be over. Ten minutes have already passed and the only subject Ive written so far is my name. I overcompensate to stare at the black type and attempt to make sense of it all. Five minutes remain and I quickly jot down my final thoughts. My meter is up. Usually I would be excited to find by my exam score, but this time there was no use in knowing. I knew I failed. I decided not to attend the rest of my classes for the day and instead do what I usually do when I need to forget ab pop out my troubles and just escape into my own world where everything is perfect go shopping. After my little tour to the mall, I came back elated, with a bunch of shopping bags in my hands and a huge bill in my pocket. I find myself escaping reality by means of shopping quite often, but fortunately I do know my limits however, there are many people who have formed an addiction to shopping. Theyre about like alcoholics. Reasons for excessive shopping vary from wanting to keep up with friends or fashion to simply cheering oneself up. But dysfunctional shopping air can easily get out of control. Like alcoholism, notes Chicago psychoanalyst Robert Galatzer-Levy, compulsive shopping represents a case of the ordinary pleasures of living getting out of hand. Just as nearly every alcoholic starts out as a social drinker, a shopping addict starts out as a recreational shopper -- bringing a little color into a gray day by picking up a pair (or three) of shoes. About 90 years ago, German psychologist, Emil Kraepelin defined excessive shopping as an illness, calling it oniomania after the Latin onos, or price, but only recently has this disorder begun to be understood. According to Observer Magazin... ...ed because at times I do go shopping to relieve stress and I do come back with dozens of bags in my hands, but I dont own a credit card so I know my limits since Im using cash. Now I wonder what will happen when I do get a credit card, but hopefully Ill be alright since Im reducing my expenditure on unnecessary items already. I think if we recognize a problem in our spending habits at an early stage, then we can prevent falling victim to shopaholism, but if we continue to deny the problem and go on buying more and more for no apparent reason then the situation may get out of hand and treatment would be needed. Like binge eating or pathological gambling, shopaholism distorts our sense of self and if anyone feels as though he or she big businessman be falling victim to this disorder then it is highly recommended that something is done immediately, before it becomes too late.

Apples and Oranges: a Comparative Essay

Apples and Oranges A Comparative Essay Is the old axiom you cant compare apples and orangishs correct? Besides being food, twain of these take a crap items have much in common. They both are located under the Fruits and Vegetable category of the Canadian Food Guide they are both worldwide in shape, making them fit in the palm of your hand and they both have a considerable amount of moisture under their skin. However, in both nutritional order and aesthetic appearance the orange far out weighs the lowly apple.Although, according to the Canadian Food Guide, a lot of apples and a serving of oranges are both considered unitary equal serving within the Fruits and Vegetables category, the nutritional value of oranges is far superior to that of apples. First, oranges have a higher concentration of vitamin C. This vitamin is subjective in strengthening and maintaining a healthy immune system. frankincense, the greater the vitamin Cwithin reasonthe greater the functioning and resilie nce of our immune system. Furthermore, peeling an orange often requires extreme dexterity and excellent hand-eye coordination.Thus, when eating an orange one is not only receiving an excellent dose of vitamin C, one is also practicing hand-eye coordination and honing his/her dexterity. On the new(prenominal) hand, apples, although a good source of vitamin C lack the concentration that is obviously present in oranges. Thus, when eating an apple it seems that the apples nutritional value is simply calorie intakefuel for the body. While this function is necessary, oranges play double duty. They provide us with calories at the same time as helping us to fight viruses and disease.Furthermore, eating an apple only requires a strong jaw and teeth. It does not help us to practice transferable skills such(prenominal) as dexterity. While the nutritional value of the fruits we consume is important, their aesthetic appearance is of greater concern. The appearance of an apple is pleasing its sy mmetry, shine, and contours emulate marble sculptures. However, there is one essential flaw in the aesthetic of the apple. It lacks a strong and invigorating aroma. When an apple is bitten, it emits a deep musky smell, one that is unique but in no way mood-changing.Oranges, when peeled emit a heavy citrus scent which, studies have shown, help us to become re-energized. Perfumers have even try to capture this scent in their colognes, body washes, and au de toilets. But no synthetic concoction can truly mimetic the revitalizing effects of citrus. The precise prestigious study of aromatherapy has verified the mood-changing effects of the citrus scent citrus is often used by psychologist to treat patients with depression with some promising results (Fakes 2).Thus the orange combats both diseases of the body and diseases of the mind. Although there are many superficial similarities between apples and oranges, oranges are of greater nutritional and aesthetic value. Apples are valuable in their caloric value and their appearance, but they lack both the concentration of vitamin C as well as the revitalizing citrus effects. Therefore, perhaps the old adage is correct You cant compare apples and oranges.

Historical Example of Supply and Demand

The Great Depression happened because the stock market in the United States dropped dramatically. A major calculate in bringing about the depression was a direct result of supply and demand. Supply and demand rely on each other and should be equal in a stable economy. Too much supply demand drops, demand goes up supply should go up to meet it. in that location was a large overage of products that the U. S. people could not consume. The overage happened because a technological advance changed how they produced goods. They were able to produce products more(prenominal) efficiently, however they did not add employees wages.Therefore, people could not afford to buy the amounts of products that were being produced. This was a direct result. There was no equilibrium. When there was an overage of products there were less demands for laborers because they could not so far sell the products that they had let alone produce more. The employers could have increased the employees wages to he lp the situation. This would not have completely fixed the problem. The industries would be forced by the law of supply and demand to drop their level of output to compensate in their loss of overall profit.Now there was less work, overage of products, and a failing economy. The Great Depression came to an end when the U. S. started making war goods for Britain. This created many jobs for U. S. citizens. This allowed people to earn money and begin spending again. President Roosevelt also had an encroachment on the recovery of the Great Depression. He made new policies, and changed how things in the economy went. He created different agencies to help with the situation. This in turn helped to create more jobs as well. The demand eventually caught up with the supply due to the labor market increase.

Why We Sleep

WHY WE SLEEP The Functions of respite in humanss and Other Mammals J. A. Horne Published by Oxford University struggle 1988 Contents CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1. 1Early slumber Theories 1. 2Daily ease and Wakefulness 1. 3Measuring balance References CHAPTER 2 Sleep wish 2. 1Problems with Animal Experiments 2. 2Recent Animal Experiments 2. 3Some Problems with Human Experiments 2. 41896 The First Real Sleep exit Experiment on Humans 2. 5The grandest Study 264 hours With step up Sleep 2. 6Ab standard Behaviour 2. 7The Longest Study With More than One Subject 205 hours 2. The Walter Reed Experiments 2. 9Motivation and Cerebral Impairment 2. 10Tasks Sensitive to Sleep Deprivation 2. 11Higher Levels of Cerebral Function 2. 12Sp ar Cerebral Capacity 2. 13Performance Mea accepteds Are Too Limited 2. 14Two Types of Sleepiness ? 2. 15Short-Term Sleep Restriction 2. 16Age and Sleep Deprivation 2. 17Does Repeated Deprivation Produce Immunity to Sleep Loss ? 2. 18Can Sleep Deprivation Ef fects be Sped Up or S get-goed D make ? 2. 19Do Long and Short Sleepers Differ in Their Reco rattling Sleep ? 2. 20Epilepsy 2. 21Other Effects On the Human EEGReferences CHAPTER 3 Physiological Effects of Sleep Deprivation 3. 1The First Major Physiological Study Kleitman, 1923 3. 2The sideline(a) Fifty Years 3. 3Body Restitution and Sleep 3. 4Effects on Exercise 3. 5The Control of Body Temp durationture (Ther more(prenominal)gulation) 3. 6Other Aspects of Homeostasis 3. 7Update on Hormone Changes 3. 8The Immune System 3. 9Conclusions virtually Sleep Deprivation in Humans References CHAPTER 4 Body Restitution and Sleep 4. 1Tissue Restitution Protein turnover and Cell Division 4. 2Factors Influencing Protein Turnover and the Cell Cycle 4. Feeding and Protein Turnover 4. 4Mitosis, Sleep and Physical Activity 4. 5Metabolism During Sleep and the Energy Cost of Restitution 4. 6Cell Energy Charge and Sleep 4. 7Human Growth Hormone Release During Sleep 4. 8Other hormonal Changes During Human Sleep 4. 9Thyroid Activity and Sleep Body Versus Brain Restitution 4. 10The Effects of Exercise on Sleep Background 4. 11Is Body Heating the account ? 4. 12Conclusions References CHAPTER 5 Waking Aw atomic number 18ness, consequent Sleep, and Cerebral Restitution 5. 1Background 5. 2Influences of Wakefulness on Subsequent Sleep 5. SWS Changes over the Night, and Models of SWS 5. 4Brain Work During Wakefulness 5. 5Increased Aw arness during Wakefulness and Subsequent Sleep 5. 6Reduced Sensory Stimulation during Wakefulness 5. 7SWS Reductions in Psychiatric Disorders 5. 8SWS and Ageing 5. 9SWS Deprivation 5. 10Brain and Behaviour During SWS 5. 11Cerebral Restitution During SWS ? 5. 12Sleep Substances and Immunoen hancement 5. 13Conclusions References CHAPTER 6 Core and Optional Sleep 6. 1Introduction 6. 2Natural Long and Short Sleepers amongst Humans 6. 3Can the Normal Sleeper Adapt to Less Sleep ? . 4Sleep Extension 6. 5Are We Chronically Sleep Deprived ? 6. 6The Circadian Timing of Sleep 6. 7Abnormalities in the Timing of Sleep 6. 8Insomnia 6. 9Stage 2 Sleep 6. 10Conclusions References CHAPTER 7 Sleep in Other Mammals 7. 1Dolphins 7. 2Laboratory vs. Natural Habitats 7. 3Statistical Analyses of Mammalian Sleep 7. 4Sleep the Immobiliser and Energy Conserver for Small Mammals 7. 5More Energy frugality if Sleep develops into a Torpor 7. 6Night versus Day Sleeping Mammals 7. 7Food, Feeding Behaviour and Cerebral Development 7. 8Encephalisation 7. 9Conclusions so Far 7. 0Infancy References CHAPTER 8 rapid eye movement Sleep 8. 1Perspectives on Dreaming 8. 2Memory, Homeostatic, Sentinel, and Motivational Theories 8. 3Abundance of rapid eye movement Sleep in Early Life The Ontogenetic Hypothesis 8. 4Sleep afterwardward Increased Learning 8. 5 paradoxical sleep Sleep Deprivation in Animals Background 8. 6rapid eye movement Sleep Deprivation, Learning and Drive Behaviour 8. 7REM Sleep Deprivation in Humans 8. 8Brain Protein Synthesis and Re noveld Findi ngs 8. 9Conclusions so Far 8. 10Similarities betwixt REM Sleep and Wakefulness 8. 11Keeping Cool 8. 12Keeping Warm 8. 13Increased Heat Production with tabu Shivering . 14Thermoregulation in REM Sleep Reverts to the Foetal Level 8. 15Conclusions About REM Sleep References EPILOGUE wherefore Do We Sleep ? CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This is a book just nearly the purpose of respite in mammals, curiously in gentleman. My memory access has been to take a broad biological perspective, looking at calmness in relation to the raw(a) lifestyles and behaviour of mammals, and making what I hope is a series of informed opinions about(predicate) what kip means to them, and peculiarly to us. Of course, I do non sp discontinue a penny the answer to why we saveness, as overly actually often is silent unknown.What I dedicate attempted to do is clear away numerous misconceptions and try and make whatsoever sense of what is left. This book is non meant to be a comprehensive text on unleashation, precisely a selective and personal account giving several hypotheses about a variety of aspects on stop. M whatsoever of my conclusions may well turn out to be wrong, as that is the way of approximately theories. However, I hope that in the beginning they fail they prove to be of use in stimulating other(a) ideas. I hurt tried to make the book readable, and present my expression indoors an unfurling story about calmness.Technicalities have been kept to a minimum, although at propagation, and of necessity, it goes into around de rump. Wherever potential, I have tried to make it understandable, as the book is aimed not simply at residual researchers, hardly at a readership having more of a passing inte take a breath in balance, with moreover a basic background in biology and psychology. atomic coverage is given to the brains neurophysiologic and neurochemical mechanisms regulating balance. Whilst they help explain how quiescence transcends, the fundamental questions about what they ar doing on that point in the first place, that is the go bad of kip, still have to be answered.Besides, at that place argon already excellent texts describing these mechanisms (e. g. ref. 1). Many people feel that, despite fifty years of research, all we tin can c set down up about the function of rest is that it over gains unequal roostderiness, and that the only reliable finding from resi delinquent departure look intos is that eternal short sleep exhalation makes us sleepy. Such a forlorn first moment has been partly responsible for around sleep researchers turning away from basic research to the more stimulating field of sleep disorders. Besides, is knowing why we sleep such a vital question after all ?Employment prospects are furthermost better in the area of sleep disorders, and there is the happiness of being able to help or cure many another(prenominal) patients. Numerous Sleep Disorders Centres have been establi shed in the United States and Europe over the rest result down decade (alas, not in the UK), and this is by far the extensiveest growth area in sleep research. Whilst it could rightly be argued that sleep disorders is a far more worth eyepatch area for sleep research, unfortunately, equivalent the neurophysiological mechanisms of sleep, it still does not tell us much about why we sleep.Certainly, it has provided valuable breeding about the neurophysiological mechanisms, and about the association between sleep and breathing (which is not really related to the function of sleep either). This is why the book contains flyspeck about sleep disorders. Again, there are already several excellent accounts available (e. g. refs. 2-4). The aim of this book is to show that we have not reached a impasse in our understanding about the functions of sleep, just rather, that we may have taken too much for granted.As leave be seen, this topic is still an unknown and raise entity, with man y avenues still to follow, and there is much work to be done. Writings about why we sleep date back to before the days of Aristotle. closely couch the purpose of sleep in terms of rest and recovery from the wear and tear of wakefulness. One cannot really argue with this idea as it makes so much sense, and besides, we all know that we feel the worse for wear without sleep, and so much better after sleep. Nevertheless it is a vague idea what scarcely is recovered ?This is still a matter for considerable debate, as will be seen throughout the book. It is commonly thought that 7 8 hours sleep a night is necessary. This idea is reinforced from many quarters. For type, by the popular press (you must get your beauty sleep), and by many GPs. Asking a patient how are you sleeping ? , may only be a stock phrase for helping the GP to establish rapport, that it still emphasises the indigence for a good nights sleep. The key symptom of insuffient or disturbed sleep is excessive sleepiness in the daytime.But many insomniacs do not stick this, and a major concern is about not getting enough sleep, and what may happen to their health as a consequence. However, we probably do not really need the last some(a) hours of a typical nights sleep, and sleep loss is far less harmful than most would think. Most of the theories about the function of sleep concentrate on dreams or dreaming sleep, nowadays called rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep). Few look at the stay sleep. Many people believe that we only go to sleep for the purpose of dreaming or having REM sleep.Clearly, dreams are the most enjoyable and noticable part of sleep, but the importance of this sleep is probably overran ted. As will be seen, a overlarge portion of REM sleep is dispensable, without ill-effect. REM sleep only occupies about one quarter of our nightly sleep, and to call the rest of sleep non-REM sleep, by describing it in terms of an absence seizure of REM sleep, not only debases the majority of sl eep, but overlooks what may losely be pick upd as the deeper part of non-REM sleep, called speechless wave sleep (SWS) in humans.This form of sleep may well turn out to be the most crucial for us. Nevertheless, despite the fact that no-one really knows what REM sleep does, or whether it is good for us, there is concern if it is dimimished. For example, if a sleeping oral contraceptive leaves REM sleep unchanged, or charge increases it, whence this is often seen to be a selling point for the drug, and little concern is usually expressed if the drug impairs or alters non-REM sleep, which by the way, many of these tablets do to a noticeable outcome.This is not meant as a criticism of drug companies, as they have only been following the climate of opinion in sleep research. REM sleep has traditionally been viewed to be essential for the normal functioning of the brain during wakefulness, while non-REM sleep, particularly SWS, is for the rest of the organic structure. Rightly or wrongly so, the old idea of dualism, the body versus mind controversy in biology has strongly influenced perspectives on sleep. However, as will be seen, this is too simple an explanation, as apart from anything else, the functions of sleep have probably changed with mammalian evolution.For example, whereas sleep may well provide generalised body weave repair for the mouse, it is un presumable that this is the case for humans, where sleep seems particularly beneficial to the cerebrum. On the other hand, for us, and perhaps even the mouse, REM sleep may more often than not be some form of substitute for wakefulness, keeping the brain bear on without having to awaken the sleeper. Perhaps dreams themselves are just a cinema of the mind the brains great entertainer to while away the nighttime hours However, it is important not to fall into the trap of thinking about each type of sleep in isolation, each having its own transparent function, separate from whatever the other types of sleep are doing. Sleep is a complex process and it is likely that different types of sleep interact with one some other to promote a variety of functions, even though one type of sleep may be associated more with one function than another. The last trinity paragraphs are introductions to most of the key motives of this book, which are actual a little more at the end of the next Section.Each chapter expands these themes further, and there are summaries at the end of most chapters. Each chapter is a fairly self-contained unit, and does not have to be read in sequence, although this is recommended. A grand summary of all the main(prenominal) themes is given in the last chapter, Why Do We Sleep, and the reader might like to take a preview of it. 1. 1 Early Sleep Theories unconnected from viewing sleep as some sort of recovery process, most of the early theories only looked at the the mechanisms that produce sleep, rather than what exactly sleep does.For example, believing it to be the result of a build up of some substance in the brain during wakefulness, that is dissipated during sleep. Even Aristotle thought along these lines twain thousand years past, and considered that sleep resulted from warm vapours rising from within the stomach The evaporation attendant upon the process of nutrition .. naturally tends to move upward. This explains why fits of drowsiness are especially apt to come after meals. It overly follows certain forms of deepigue for fatigue operates as a solvent, and the dissolved (warm) matter acts like diet prior to digestion.In the last century, with more advancements in the understanding of the brain, heart and vascular system, one school of thought considered sleep to be ca apply by the over-crowding of the brain by smear. This contrasted with another popular theory at the time, of cerebral anaemia, due to blood being drawn away from the brain and entertained elsewhere in the body, especially to the gut. Such ideas even led to oppo sing beliefs about how to induce better sleep. Some propounded sleeping without pillows to encourage blood unravel to the head, and others encouraged the opposite use plenty of pillows to drain the blood away. Behavioural theories were also common in the 19th century, particularly that sleep was due to an absence of external stimulation, with wakefulness only being possible if the organism was constantly stimulated. Take the stimulation away and the carnal will fall asleep. To some extent this notion is trus 2rthy, as we can all testify, but it is not the answer. At the turn of the century another behavioural theory became very popular, proposed by a Frenchman, Dr Eduard Claparede.He considered that sleep was not so much a passive response, but an active process like an instinct, to bar fatigue occurring we sleep not because we are intoxicated or exhausted, but in order to prevent our becoming intoxicated or exhausted. For him, sleep ends when we have had enough. An arouse id ea initially, but it has as much depth of understanding as saying that we eat in order to prevent ourselves from starving. The real purpose for eating is to provide nutrients, that bear complex processes which allow the body to live, grow, and repair itself.The beginning of the 20th century also produced many of what are termed humoral theories, whereby various sleep inducing substances a hatful in the brain. These ranged from known chemicals like lactic acid, carbon dioxide and cholesterol, to the vaguely described leucomaines and urotoxins. Nevertheless, by 1907 some headway began to be make when two French researchers, Drs Rene Legendre and Henri Pieron, claimed to have obtained a substance they called hypnotoxin from sleep deprived creatures. This gave a large boost to the humoral theories for the next twenty years or so, with much activity by several groups of researchers.However, success was hard to come by and interest dwindled. That is, until the 1960s, when great headway has since been made into sleep substances (see Section 5. 12). In those interim years most of the excitement came from advances in neurophysiology that could be related to sleep, and a spate of different neural inhibition theories for sleep appeared. Many had had their early impetus from Pavlovs views on cortical inhibition that sleep originated from a form of blocking within the cerebral hemispheres.Although Pavlov vehemently dismissed the alternative, of sleep inducing centres in more basic split of the brain below the lens cortex, these have since been found to exist, and have become the centre of one of the prominent fields of sleep research, especially, after the discovery in the late 1940s, of arousal centres in the reticular formation. Unfortunately though, sleep centres and humoral theories still do not tell us much about the purpose of sleep, in the same way that knowing about centres in the brain that regulate eating behaviour explain little about the purpose of eating .Hypotheses about the function of sleep have centred on various types of recovery following the wear and tear of wakefulness, and come under the heading of restorative theories. In contrast, there are alternatives that reject this standpoint and claim that sleep is non-restorative simply a form of instinct or non-behaviour for keeping us, as well as other mammals, out of harms way, and occupying the otherwise tedious and unproductive hours of darkness. Through this immobility, sleep will also prevent any waste of zero through needlessly moving about.Hence sleep is often seen as an energy conserver. Whilst I believe that these restitutional and instinctive theories have their merits, they seem to fail because each is usually applied universally to all mammals. Why should the functions of sleep for a beautiful nocturnal mammal like the mouse, with a poorly developed cerebral cortex, unable to relax during wakefulness, continually having to forage for food and be on the lookout for predators, be exactly the same as that for humans, who are usually the opposite in all these respects?One theme I shall be developing in this book is that these three aspects of sleep function restoration, energy conservation, and as an occupier of time, will alter as the evolutionary scale is ascended, depending on various interrelated circumstances of the mammal, particularly body surface, level of cerebral development, amount of relaxed wakefulness and type of diet. Furthermore, for most mammals including ourselves, the functions of sleep may well alter as each nights sleep progresses, initially serving more important purposes, and so changing to those of less benefit.Not only does this idea break with the traditional division of sleep into REM and non-REM sleep, but also means that the last part of sleep may be superfluous in many mammals. For humans, this applies to the last two hours or so of the typical eight hours of nightly sleep. This is similar to eating and drinking, where we can easily consume more than we really need, or do with a little less, without any ill-effects, apart from some harmless adjustment of body weight, for example.My standpoints on sleep are somewhat heretical, and argue against many commonly held ideas. But before entering this controversy, let me provide a little background about some of the more common phenomena of sleep and how they are legal professiond. 1. 2 Daily Sleep and Wakefulness The lives of all mammals are very much influenced by internal biological quantify under the control of centres within the brain that regulate not only the level of alertness over the day, but the timing of sleep, wakefulness, and most other physiological functions.There is much debate about whether these rhythms come under the control of one, two, or more central clocks. At the moment it is thought that there may be two, one controlling sleep and wakefulness, and the other body temperature and various aspects of general physiology. On th e other hand, it is possible that both are part of some less well understood masterclock. However, assuming there to be two clocks, it seems that neither runs precisely at 24 hours, and the term circadian, from the latin circa diem (about a day) has been adopted to describe them.Human circadian rhythms are inclined to run a little muffleder than 24 hours, more like 24. 5 hours, but they are restrained to 24 hours through the brain being aware of regular daily events in the environment. Such events are called zeitgeibers, a german word losely translated as time conferrer. For many mammals sun come up and sunset are the main zeitgebers. If the zeitgeibers are removed, for example, by keeping an animal in an artificial environment under constant light, then the body temperature clock free runs at its natural period (i. . 24. 5 hours in humans). But in the modern world of electric lighting, our internal clocks can no longer rely on daylight and darkness as a zeitgeiber, and instead, s omehow use other regular cues such as mealtimes, and perhaps morning wakening by an alarm clock. Under normal everyday conditions our internal clocks are linked unitedly, with body temperature and most physiological activities increasing during wakefulness and declining during sleep. This is not simply an effect of different levels of visible activity.For example, if sleep is disjointed at night and taken in the day instead, as happens in shift work, the temperature rhythm remains the same for several days, still falling at night and rising by day. Then it flattens out, and eventually begins to re-shape itself to rise at night and fall by day. Full adaptation of the temperature rhythm may take two weeks, and until this occurs, with the sleep-wakefulness rhythm completely resynchronised with it, the shiftworker experiences various discomforts such as sleepiness at work, indigestion, loss of appetite and headaches.These are not harmful, just annoying, and are in effect a worse for m of jet drop despatch, where the timing of sleep and wakefulness is also suddenly shifted in relation to body temperature and local time. Why Nature has given animals these circadian clocks is not exactly clear, and the reason may vary somewhat from species to species. However, most animals are very much at the mercy of daylight and darkness, irrespective of whether they live diurnal or nocturnal lifestyles.One view of the function of the circadian clocks is that they preempt each part of the day by ensuring that sleep, wakefulness, alertness, and various physiological changes will be at their most suitable levels. Such preempting may be necessary as there is a time lag for these changes to occur, which might be too long if they did not begin until the external event arrived. For example, a warm brain works better than a cool one, but during the sleep period body and brain temperature fall a little. Some time is required for the brain to warm up, and if this did not begin until w akefulness then behaviour could be impaired for a while.The circadian clock seems to anticipate wakefulness and starts the warm-up process a few hours beforehand, ensuring that the brain is at a good works temperature when wakefulness begins. 1. 3 Measuring Sleep If one simply watches a sleeping mammal, including humans, certain common features are seen A typical body bear A specific site or nest for this behaviour Physical inactivity A regular daily occurrence influenced by a circadian clock More stimulation is required to rouse the animal than during wakefulness However, advanced mammals like ourselves can feign some of these haracteristics during wakefulness by resting with the eye conclude, and a more accurate method for measuring sleep is needed. Furthermore, as it is tedious to watch an animal sleeping for many hours at a time, some form of automatic recording is desirable. The organ that shows the clearest changes during sleep compared with relaxed wakefulness is the brain, and this is particularly obvious in its galvanic activity. Concentrating on the brain in this way is eliminate in other respects, as not only does it contain the control mechanisms of sleep, but of all the bodys organs it is for the brain and behaviour (i. . mainly the cerebral cortex) that sleep seems to be the most vital. Monitoring this electrical activity in animals involves surgery and the placing of minute electrodes in the brain and other parts of the head. These are normally committed by flexible wires to a junction box above the cage. This can restrict the animals movement, and if more freedom is wanted then a minature radio transmitter can be fixed to the head instead. In humans, electrodes are only fixed to the surface of the scalp with a quick-drying sterile glue, easily removed by a solvent.Wires from the electrodes are plugged into a junction box, and the crisscrossals amplified by a machine similar to that used for animals. Such amplifiers are technically very c ivilise as they have to boost the brains signals by about a million-fold, because the electrical activity of the brain is only at a few millionths of a volt. After amplification, the signals can be written out by mechanical ink pens on paper, or recorded on magnetic tape. The human brain largely consists of the cerebral cortex (sometimes called the encephalon) surrounding the rest of the brain like the canopy of a mushroom approximately its stalk.As the electrodes are located above the cortex, the electrical activity they pick up is that of the cortex, rather than of deeper brain areas. Hence the term electroencephalography (EEG for short) is used to describe this technique of scalp recording. The paper write-out is called an electroencephalogram (also called the EEG), and the machine containing the amplifiers and pens, as an electroencephalograph. When electrodes are placed in the cortex itself, as with animals, the electrical activity should strictly be called he electrocorticogr am (ECoG). However, for simplicity, many people including myself, also refer to it as the EEG, even though this is incorrect. Much of sleep can be assessed from the EEG alone, but for the measurement of REM sleep, additional electrodes have to be placed around the eyes to detect the rapid eye movements, and over muscles in the chin or neck. For reasons that are not understood, in REM sleep these muscles profoundly relax (tonus is lost), and this can be used as a further guide to REM sleep.Although muscles in the rest of the body do not lose their tonus, they are unable to move as there is also a type of paralysis sledding on during REM sleep that prevents voluntary movement. For many mammals the EEG of REM sleep is very much like that of aroused wakefulness, which is why REM sleep used to be called paradoxical sleep the animal is behaviourally asleep, but the brain seems to be awake. So without knowing about the activities of the eyes and neck muscles, we could easily mistake REM sleep for wakefulness.For humans the EEG of REM sleep is very much like that of light non-REM sleep (stage 1 sleep), and consequently was once called stage 1-REM sleep. Again, eye and neck muscle recordings are essential, to separate REM sleep from stage 1 sleep. The EEG consists of waves that can be measured in terms of AMPLITUDE The voltage between the thrill and the trough of a wave, and measured in millionths of a volt (microvolts uV). Amplitude rises as consciousness falls from alert wakefulness, through drowsiness to deep sleep. absolute frequency The number of complete waves or cycles occurring in one second, and expressed as hertz (hz cycles per second).The effective range in the human EEG is from about 0. 5 hz to 25 hz. Generally speaking, frequencies above about 15 hz are fast waves, and frequencies of under about 3. 5 hz are slow waves these are the waves of slow wave sleep (SWS). Whereas amplitude rises as sleep deepens, frequency falls. With the very advanced mamm als, especially apes and humans, the EEG of both wakefulness and sleep is more complex, and enables further specific types of EEG to be identified according to certain frequency bands. These are given greek letters, and passing game from high to low frequencies the MAIN divisions are as follows (there are some gaps)BETA is usually above 15 hz and consists of fast waves of low amplitude (under 10 uV) that occur when the cerebrum is alert or even anxious. ALPHA is normally the range 8 11 hz, and is typical of relaxed wakefulness, and when there is little input to the eyes, especially when they are shut or staring at a blank wall. THETA is in the range of 3. 5 7. 5 hz and it reflects drowsiness and light sleep DELTA these are the slow waves of SWS, and have the lowest EEG frequency, of under 3. 5 hz. They are of a high amplitude, often over 100 uV, and increase in appearance as sleep becomes deeper.There are some other, more transient EEG activities found only during sleep, such as vertex sharp waves occuring with theta activity at sleep onset, and spindles and K complexes that are most prominent in stage 2 sleep (see Section 6. 9). All these EEG characteristics allow human non-REM sleep to be broken down further, and there are standard reference works for this purpose, one for infants (5) and the other for adults (6), describing in detail the EEG and other characteristics of REM sleep and of the four increasingly deeper EEG stages of non-REM sleep stages 1, 2, 3 and 4 sleep.However, the staging of non-REM sleep is arbitarily defined and still a matter for debate, particularly in the case of the elderly (7). Nevertheless, this sleep staging is generally accepted. Wakefulness is called stage 0, and is typified by alpha or beta activities. Stage 1 is really a enactment stage from wakefulness or drowsiness to true sleep (stage 2 sleep or deeper), and usually only occupies about 5% of the night. Stage 1 is typified by theta activity, a loss of alpha, and oft en some vertex sharp waves. There is also much eye rolling, as the eyelids slowly light and shut a few times, with the eyes rolling upwards and downwards.If one watches someone falling asleep, especially if they are also struggling to remain awake, then these movements of the eyes and eyelids can be clearly seen. The bulk of human sleep, around 45 % of it, is made up of stage 2 sleep, containing a mixture of theta activity, sleep spindles, K complexes and a few delta waves. Stage 3 is more of a transition phase from stage 2 to stage 4, and only constitutes about 7% of sleep in the young adult. It contains 20 50 % delta activity of a certain amplitude. When this activity goes beyond 50% then the deepest sleep, stage 4, is reached.This makes up about 13% of sleep in the young adult. SWS is the collective term for stages 3 and 4 sleep, where delta activity increasingly predominates. The EEG characteristics of the various sleep stages are shown in Figure 1. REM sleep occurs regularly throughout sleep in nearly all mammals. The time from the beginning of one episode of REM sleep to the beginning of the following is remarkably regular within any species, and seems to depend on the brain size of it of that species (8). The big the brain, the longer this time interval. Whilst in humans it is about 90 minutes, for the rat it is only about 12 minutes.Interestingly, although REM sleep only makes up a small portion of total sleep in most mammal species, normally about 10 15%, humans have roughly double this value. However, for all of them, including humans, this declines with age (Figure 21), and as I have already mentioned, is much more evident in the newborn. REM sleep is discussed in detail in Chapter 8. Figure 1. 1 EEG of Human Sleep Stages Wakefulness shows alpha activity (subject relaxed) and beta activity (alert). Theta activity can be seen in Stage 1 sleep. Stage 2 sleep shows spindles and a K complex.Note the large slow waves (delta activity) of stage 4, als o apparent to some extent in stage 3 sleep. Stages 3 and 4 together are slow wave sleep (SWS). The EEG of REM sleep resembles that of stage 1, and contains a mixture of beta and theta activities. To avoid mistaking these two stages, recordings are made of eye movements and chin muscle tonus (see text). Usually, for humans each minute or one-half-minute of sleep is broken down into the sleep stages, and the results can be plotted out as a hypnogram. A simplified version is seen in Figure 2, and shows certain key features of sleep ) A rapid line of products to stage 4 sleep soon after sleep onset. 2) A regular 90 minute cycling of REM sleep and other stages. 3) The prevalence of stages 3 and 4 sleep (SWS) in the first cycle, less in the second cycle, and only some stage 3 sleep in the leash cycle. SWS is largely confined to the first half of sleep. 4) A greater predominance of REM sleep and stage 2 sleep in the second half of the night. Figure 1. 2 A simplified hypnogram of sleep s tage changes over the night in young human adults REFERENCES 1. McGinty D. J. , Drucker-Colin R. , Morrison A. & Parmeggiani P-L. (eds) Brain Mechanisms of Sleep, New York Raven Press (1985). 2. Williams R. L. , & Karacan I. (eds) Sleep Disorders, Diagnosis and Treatment, New York Wiley and Sons (1978). 3. Chase M. , & Weitzman, E. (eds) Sleep Disorders Basic and Clinical Research, New York MTP Press (1983) . 4. Parkes J. D. Sleep and Its Disorders, London W. B. Saunders Co (1985). 5. Anders T. , Emde R. , & Parmelee, A. A Manual of measure Terminology, Techniques and Criteria for Scoring States of Sleep and Wakefulness in the Newborn Infant.Los Angeles UCLA Brain Information Service (1971). 6. Rechtschaffen A. & Kales A. A Manual of Standardised Terminology, Techniques and Scoring System of Sleep Stages in Human Subjects. Los Angeles UCLA Brain Information Service (1968). 7. Webb W. B. & Drebelow L. M. A modified method for scoring slow wave sleep of older subjects. Sleep, 5, 1 95 199 (1982). 8. Zepelin H. , & Rechtschaffen A. Mammalian sleep, longevity and energy metabolism. Brain and Behavioural Evolution, 10, 425 470 (1974). CHAPTER 2 SLEEP DEPRIVATION . 1. Problems with Animal Experiments One way of finding out about the functions of sleep is through sleep wish, and there have been many such investigations on animals and humans since the turn of the century. The general findings are, that although humans appear to cope fairly well, other mammals tend to come off worse. This does not necessarily mean that humans have different sleep functions to those of animals, but that most of the animal experiments have introduced additional stresses which have been more eventful.With humans, we can ask for volunteers to go without sleep for a few days, and impress on them that they are free to withdraw whenever then want. Also, these volunteers are carefully looked after, their safety is ensured, and nought harmful will be allowed to happen to them. However, no ne of these factors really apply to animals, as for example, we cannot communicate these assurances to them, and so to speak, put their minds at rest and allay apprehension. Their natural lifestyle is totally disrupted, as they are kept awake at times of the day when they expect to sleep, through methods they do not understand and have no control over.Although sleep deprivation in animals can be given for a longer time than for humans, implying that more interesting findings might be forthcoming, we can still be more confident that the results from human sleep deprivation studies are less affected by additional stresses. The first well-documented experiment of this type on animals was carried out in France during 1894 by a Dr M. de Manaceine, who kept puppies awake for 4-6 days by walking or handling them continually. By the end of this time their body temperatures had fallen by about 4C, and there was a drop in the number of red blood cells.Autopsies revealed many small haemorrhage s in the cerebral cortex. These findings stimulated much interest and soon led to further studies by other laboratories, also on puppies. Again, falls in body temperature were found, and although changes in the cerebral cortex were also reported, these were more variable and of a different nature to those of Manaceines puppies. However, few of these experiments used a control group of animals, and it is likely that some of the changes attributed to sleep deprivation may have been due simply to laboratory techniques unrelated to the deprivation itself.Ideally a control group would consist of littermates allowed to sleep normally, so that comparisons could be made with the deprived animals. Such a method was subsequently used in the substantive studies carried out by an American, Dr Nathaniel Kleitman, in the 1920s. oer the next 40 years he performed many more investigations into sleep in both animals and humans, and for these efforts he is usually regarded as the father of sleep rese arch. His great work, Sleep and Wakefulness (1), was for many years the textbook on sleep.In Kleitmans early experiments, puppies were kept awake for 2-7 days, by groups of assistants walking or playing with the animals. This technique was sure-fire for up to 3-4 days of continued wakefulness, with most of the animals feeding and drinking normally. Thereafter though, they would lose all interest in the surroundings. However, when they were compared with littermate control animals that were not sleep deprived, there was no greater fall in body temperature, nor any important change to vital functions.The only real finding was a confirmation of the forward reports of a drop in the number of red blood cells in the sleep deprived animals. Examination of the brains of all the animals showed similar and clear abnormalities for both the groups. Whilst the true reasons for these latter effects are unknown, it is likely that the damage was done during autopsy, as the techniques used for pre paring the brains for analysis were crude by todays standards. Other sleep deprivation experiments of this era used rabbits, but again, few used control groups. Probably the best known was by another American, Dr W G Crile, who kept rabbits awake for 4-5 days.A discount rise in body temperature and a slowing of respiration were found, but no fall in red blood cells. Autopsies revealed changes to the liver and adrenal secreter, as well as to the cerebral cortex. Although Crile could not explain these findings, again it is likely that the autopsy procedure was to blame. These early studies simply relied on the experimenters claims that their animals remained awake, and it was not until the 1950s that advances in EEG recording techniques made it possible to measure whether the animal was truly asleep or awake.So until recent times, about the only way of making sure that the animal remained awake was to keep it continually moving, but this meant that one was now looking at the effects of physical activity positive sleep deprivation. To some extent the influence of the physical activity alone could be subtracted by giving the same amount of exercise to a control group allowed to sleep. However, it is possible that exercise interacts with sleep deprivation in a way not found in the control group, as for example, forced exercise when wanting to sleep may be more stressful to a sleep deprived animal than to a refreshed control animal.This is a problem that Kleitman readily acknowledged, even though he did use control groups. Nevertheless, this questioning about the impact of exercise may be rather theoretical, as it will be remembered that few of the early deprivation experiments which used exercise found any serious abnormality anyway at least up to seven days wakefulness, although utilize the limited and rather crude methods for determining an animals state of health. There is one more of the early sleep deprivation experiments that I must mention, carried out in 1946 by Drs J C R Licklider and M E Bunch, from Harvard and Washington Universities (2).Their first aim was to go steady the least amount of sleep that laboratory rats could pass away on, as usually these animals slept around 12 hours a day. Animals were kept awake by forced walking on a treadmill. Very much to the experimenters credit, a variety of control groups were used. In an initial pilot experiment, animals were divided into four groups no sleep, normal sleep, 8 hours sleep, and 4 hours sleep. They were kept like this for several weeks, or, as was to be the case for the totally sleep deprived group, until they died.This usually occurred after 3 14 days. To Licklider and Bunchs surprise, the four hour group seemed to survive indefinitely. The only finding of note was that these animals were extremely irritable and had to be handled with caution. Licklider and Bunchs next experiment, their major one, now looked in more detail at the effects of four hours sleep per day, b ut this time on young (adolescent) animals, particularly, at their rate of growth and learning ability. Control groups were again used.Although I will not go into details, set to say that these tried to clarify the effects of the exercise itself, and other potential problems. Animals from the experimental and control groups were still growing, and all had access to food all of the time. Measurements were taken for 10 18 weeks. However, within a few days from the start, the growth rates of the 4 hour sleepers began to fall behind those of the control groups, and after a further 50 days their body weights just levelled off whilst the others continued to grow.But according to the investigators the shortened sleepers seemed healthy enough, apart from irritability. Of great interest was that learning in these rats was certainly no worse than that of the control groups even marginally better. The most sophisticated studies of sleep deprivation apply EEG methods also pair together slee p deprived and control animals, so that when sleep onset occurs in the EEG of the sleep deprived animal, it is stimulated into wakefulness. The control animal is similarly stimulated irrespective of whether it is awake or asleep.Because both animals have similar circadian sleep and wake patterns, the likelihood of sleep is greater at certain times of the day, so whenever the sleep deprived animal is stimulated its partner may also be asleep. Consequently, the control animal also loses some sleep, but only about 20-30% of it, and is certainly not totally sleep deprived. For both animals these laboratory procedures are stressfull, and it is assumed that because one animal has total sleep deprivation plus these stresses, and the other only partial sleep deprivation plus the stresses, any greater effects on the first animal are due to the larger sleep loss.These sophisticated studies are a great improvement on antecedent ones where there was little or no control, but there is still the problem that the sleep deprived animal has a greater disruption to its lifestyle as well as to its sleep. To be stimulated into wakefulness from drowiness or sleep, as is the case for the sleep deprived animal, may be more stressing than to be stimulated whilst already awake, as is the likelihood for the control animal.Although none of these animal experiments can be perfect, of course, they do have the great advantage over the human studies in that more searching measurements can be done, and autopsies carried out afterwards. Apart from changes in behaviour, one of the best signs of stress in both animals and humans is a marked increase in the output of certain hormones from the adrenal glands, particularly adrenaline and the corticosteroids, with the most notable example of the latter being cortisol.Adrenaline (otherwise called epinephrine) is the main hormone produced in the core of the adrenals, the medulla, whereas the corticosteroids come from the outer layer, the cortex. Hen ce the more correct term for these latter hormones is the adrenocorticosteroids. Cortisol helps the body withstand stress by protecting various wavers against excess damage, for example, by minify inflammation. It combats shock by making body energy reserves more available, and trying to ensure that the volume of the blood and blood pressure can be maintained.The number of red cells in the blood falls, as more are switched to a reserve store so that fewer cells would be lost during any bleeding. For reasons that are not clear, it also depresses the immune system. Cortisol can affect the central nervous system and behaviour. Under non-stressful conditions cortisol is released in small amounts throughout the day, and has an obvious circadian rhythm, troughing at the beginning of a mammals daily sleep period, and peaking around the start of wakefulness.However, rapid increases can occur within a short while of a stressor occurring, and may be maintained for many days as the adrenal g land can soon grow in size to produce more of the hormone. Eventually though, the gland becomes exhausted and the animals ability to combat the stressing event fails. Death usually soon ensues. Whilst cortisol helps the organism to endure stress, especially if the animal is helpless and unable to avoid the underlying cause, adrenaline has a more rapid alerting effect, commonly called the fight or flight response, designed to help the animal quickly avoid the danger one way or another.Of the two hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, the sleep deprivation researcher usually prefers to measure the latter, because deprivation generally lasts for days, and this hormone is much easier to measure than is adrenaline. In the 1950s a Canadian, Dr Hans Selye, identified three phases in the cortisol response to stress alarm, exemption and exhaustion (3), with the last one not usually occurring until many days have elapsed. Although Selyes interpretation is now thought to be too-simple an explanat ion for what is clearly a complex response, his approach is still reasonable for our purposes.Whilst injury and illness are major causes for the initial alarm response, it will also occur whenever the body is pushed to extremes, for example during heavy exercise or in very hot or cold environments. More importantly, psychological factors such as apprehension and fear are potent triggers for this hormone. These can substantially add to the effects of more physical stimuli such as injury. Whilst animals usually show rises in cortisol during sleep deprivation, this tends not to be the case with humans.We can be sleepy, irritable and have a great desire to sleep, but providing we know that no harm will be allowed to come to us, and that we can pull out of the experiment if necessary, then the deprivation will not necessarily be stressful. This suggests that some psychological factor in animals, such as fear, may be influencing their cortisol response to deprivation. It must be borne in mind that illness and tissue damage will also activate the alarm responses. So I cannot be clear about how much of the raised cortisol levels in sleep deprived animals is due to physical illness, fear alone, or fear as a result of the illness. . 2 Recent Animal Experiments The most elaborate sleep deprivation studies ever performed on animals are being run at the Chicago University Sleep Laboratory a premier sleep laboratory established 25 years ago by Dr. Allan Rechtschaffen, and still under his direction. Kleitman was also at Chicago University, but in another Department. He retired soon after Rechtschaffens arrival, and his sleep laboratory unsympathetic down. Rechtschaffens pioneering work along so many lines of sleep research has brought him a level of respect from sleep researchers that equals that accorded to Kleitman.Rechtschaffen and his team began their sleep deprivation experiments on rats in the early 1980s (4 8). Two main types of study were performed (i) total slee p deprivation, and (ii) deprivation of REM sleep only. For each of these there were impressive control procedures using control animals. The centrepiece of this laboratorys equipment was the apparatus for sleep deprivation a horizontal, circular rotating platform 45 centimeters in diameter, surrounded by shallow water. A unsloped barrier divided the platform into halves, allowing a sleep deprived animal to be confined to one side, and a control animal to the other.The platform could revolve slowly under the barrier. When this occurred, both animals had to move to avoid being gently propelled into the surrounding water. As rats dislike getting wet they would do their best to avoid falling in. Each animal had its EEG continuously monitored by a computer. When sleep was detected in the rat to be deprived of sleep, the platform would promptly rotate, causing the animal to rouse and move along the platform. Its partner, which might be awake or asleep at the time, had to move likewise , and to the same extent.Generally, control animals lost about 26% of their sleep, compared with about 92% for the experimental group. Although this procedure was indeed stressful to sleep deprived animals, as shown by increases in adrenal gland weights and cortisol secretion, the control animals seemed to experience a similar amount of stress for most of the experimental period, as both these indices rose to similar extents in them as well. For REM sleep deprivation alone, the platform only moved when REM sleep was detected.The technique was quite effective, as virtually all of REM sleep (99%) could be eliminated, whereas the control partner only lost about 4% of its REM sleep. Although the experimental animals were still able to take most of their non-REM sleep (which makes up about 88% of sleep in the rat), there was some unavoidable loss of the deeper form of non-REM sleep. This was a problem of some concern to the investigators, and I will come back to this later. For both type s of sleep deprivation, experimental and control animals were under constant light, and food always available.The environmental temperature was set at what is neutral for the rat. gibe sleep deprivation caused general debility, weight loss and wipeout by about the 21st day. The control rats all survived the experience, although they became debilitated and lost weight to some extent. Post mortems were performed on all the animals. Examinations were carried out on the brain, liver, kidneys, spleen, lungs, duodenum, stomach, thyroid and thymus, with the pathologists not being told from which group each animal had come. Surprisingly, no significant differences were found between the two groups for any of these organs.As the investigators pointed out, one of the remaining possibilities was that shoemakers last may have been due to undetected biochemical abnormalities. So far though, there is no sign of what, if any, these might be. In the total sleep deprivation procedure, both experi mental and control animals ate much more food, whilst also losing weight. However, these effects were far more apparent in the experimental group. Calculations by the investigators on the energy obtained from digested food and from breakdown of the animals own body tissues, showed a very large rise in the energy usage, to around 2. times the baseline levels for the experimental group, and to 1. 7 times these values for the control group. It seemed that such increases were being used to fuel a large rise in metabolism. Although most of this energy need was coming from voracious eating, particularly in the experimental animals, the fall in body weight showed that the animals own energy stores were being depleted. But this weight loss was probably not the cause of death in the sleep deprived animals, as at death their weight had only fallen to about 80% of the starting value.The investigators had shown that starved rats not sleep deprived can still survive at 70% of their original body weight. Sleep deprived animals were digesting their food normally, and there was no sign of diabetes or other illnesses that could account for weight loss and voracious eating. So what was happening to all this energy, and was it all going to fuel increased metabolism? The gland that has a major effect on metabolic rate is the thyroid, but its hormones showed no changes. Could stress still have an answer?There were no noticable differences in the size of the adrenal glands between the two groups for most of the time, from the start of the deprivation until the death of the sleep deprived animal. However, there was a rise in adrenal weight a few days before death. To try and determine the stress responses further, the investigators made more detailed analyses of blood samples from both groups of animals, every few days. Apart from the measurement of cortisol and other blood constituents, assessments were also made of the hormone that controls cortisol release adrenocorticotrophic h ormone (ACTH).Both the sleep deprived and control groups showed similar rises in these two hormones, with no significant differences between the two groups for either substance. Except of course, for the few days prior to the death of the experimental animal, when there was a greater rise in cortisol. The other blood constituents showed no notable differences between the groups, except that the hormone noradrenaline (norepinephrine) was far higher in the experimental animals. The exact reasons for this were not really known.This hormone has many interesting actions, with several relating to metabolism and the regulation of heat loss from the body. For example, it limits heat loss from the skin by restricting blood flow to skin capillaries, also, it makes body fat supplies more easily available as an energy source for other tissues. One important role for noradrenaline is to stimulate special heat producing organs called brown adipose tissue (BAT or brown fat) to burn up more energy for heat. However, this tissue is usually only found in infant animals and is gone by adulthood.It is not known if the rats used in the Chicago studies had any brown fat reserves. I shall cover the role of this tissue in more detail, in Section 8. 13. An important finding with the totally sleep deprived group was that body temperature fell during their last days, and this, together with the earlier increases in feeding and raised metabolism, suggests that something seriously happens to the ability of the animal to conserve its body heat that is, its thermoregulation becomes impaired. This state of affairs was not so apparent in the control animals.What seems to be happening, although we cannot be certain, is that soon after sleep deprivation begins, experimental animals increasingly lose body heat, presumably through the skin, and compensate by burning more energy to increase metabolism and create more body heat. More and more food has to be eaten, but even this is not enough, as b ody energy reserves also have to be sacrificed on this metabolic fire. For the first two weeks, heat production matches heat loss, as body temperature stays normal.But then there is a harm, with heat loss exceeding heat production, and body temperature falls. Although death follows a few days later, it is not yet known whether this is due directly to the collapse of thermoregulation, or just that this collapse is a symptom of something more subtle but nevertheless catastrophic, not yet understood. The control group did not reach this state, as their body temperature never fell, at least up to the time they were killed, when their experimental partners died.The physical appearances of the sleep deprived animals changed in a characteristic way, apart from the weight loss. After about a week of total sleep deprivation their hair developed a yellowish tinge and became matted. The skin of the tail and paws developed small red inflamed areas that eventually developed into often quite lar ge lesions, very much like ulcers, but containing only a minor infection. These got worse as the deprivation progressed, and also began to appear in the control group, but at a slower rate of development.Surprisingly, all the animals seemed unconcerned about these sores and paid little attention to them. The lesions were only on the bare skin of the tail and feet, and were not found under the fur. Careful examinations, by specialists in skin diseases, were made of the lesions, and it was concluded that these were not due to wetness, or pressure on the skin they remain a puzzle. Although there are suspicions that a biochemical change in the skin may be the cause, perhaps even a vitamin deficiency, there is no evidence of this, despite careful chemical analyses.To see whether the animals were becoming debilitated from infections, blood was analysed to find out if the immune system was functioning normally. Immunology is a exceedingly complex area (see Section 3. 8), and only a few t ests could be performed. Nevertheless, such tests would have been discerning enough to pick up anything unusual going on but nothing remarkable was found. In fact, the remarkable finding was that there was nothing unusual, given the animals circumstances. What is happening to the sleep deprived rat so many blanks have been drawn?All that we apparently have so far is what seems to be a problem with thermoregulation, and the skin lesions neither of these seemed to be due to the animals getting wet through falling in the water, as this was also investigated. As far as can be seen, little else seems to be going wrong. Rechtschaffen and colleagues are cautious over speculating over their findings. Although they believe that heat loss and thermoregulation lie at the crux of the demise of their animals, they emphasise that more proof is required.This would, for example, come from careful measurements of metabolic rate, which so far have been difficult to carry out in the sleep deprivati on apparatus. Usually, animals would be put inside a calorimiter (a chamber for measuring body heat production), but a sleep deprived animal quickly falls asleep here, and sleep alters metabolic rate. Nevertheless, I would like to concentrate on thermoregulation a little more as I believe it to be a crucial factor. Firstly, let me give some more background, because even the normal and healthy rat has potential problems with its thermoregulation.Like other small mammals it has a relatively large body surface area in proportion to its weight. Simple geometry shows that as body weight doubles, surface area only increases by about 60%. Keep on doubling size in this way until something of the mass of a human is produced, and the body surface becomes quite small in proportion to its weight. If there is any deterioration in the ability of the body surface to keep heat in, then this will become an increasing problem the smaller the mammal, with less body mass to suffer heat in proportion t o surface area. Body heat loss is less of a concern to humans than it is to rats, mainly ecause of our relatively large mass in proportion to surface area. But the animal usually has effective countermeasures physiological and behavioural. Both are mostly aimed at protecting its more overt body areas, the paws, and especially the large tail. Physiologically, blood flow to the skin is reduced here, and behaviourally, the animal can sit on its tail, or squiggle up into a ball. Now, it seems to be fairly certain that sleep deprived rats are losing a large amount of body heat, and presumably, a major potential route for this loss is through the tail and paws.Even though these animals are in a neutral environmental temperature, this is still below that of their body, and body heat can still be lost. Since food intake rises and weight falls as soon as deprivation begins, the apparent increase in heat loss seems to begin immediately. I suspect that a sleepy rat is less aware of this loss , and the animal may forget to sit on its tail to conserve body heat. It cannot curl up for long as the inevitable sleep and promp movement of the platform makes it wake up and walk. From what I have seen of sleep deprived rats, their tails are almost always exposed.If too much heat is being lost here, then one would expect the animal to protect its tail as much as possible but sleep deprived rats are not doing this. They still have the physiological countermeasure, of reducing the blood flow to the skin of the tail and feet. Whether or not the eventual appearance of ulcers in these areas is related to the problems of thermoregulation, or is just a coincidence, is an open question. Perhaps a prolonged restricted blood supply to the skin of the tail and feet, lasting for a week or so, promotes skin ulcers?Enough of this speculation of mine, and let us return to some other fascinating findings from the Chicago Group. They had suspicions that the inevetable REM sleep loss during total sleep deprivation might have been a key factor in the deterioration of their animals, as REM sleep deprivaton alone, also led to death. But as the investigators noted, the difficulty with this idea is that death occurred much later during REM sleep deprivation, after an average of 37 days almost twice as long as for totally sleep deprived animals. REM sleep deprivation produced very similar ffects to total sleep deprivation, including the skin lesions, except that the course of events was spread over a longer time. Stress seemed slightly higher in the REM sleep deprived animals than in their control partners, as cortisol and ACTH levels were somewhat higher, but this was not really apparent until about the week before death. The most dramatic difference was again a large increase in food intake, which began soon after the REM sleep deprivaton started. Calculations of the energy used by the REM sleep deprived animals showed a massive 3. times rise over that of the pre-deprivation l evels, against a 1. 9 rise for the control group. Body temperature stayed normal for the first two weeks of REM sleep deprivation and then fell, but always remained stable for the control animals. If REM sleep deprivation was the key to the death of the totally sleep deprived animals, why would REM sleep deprivation alone allow them to survive for twice as long? Maybe REM sleep deprivation is of little relevance after all Instead, perhaps the fatal factor is not the type of sleep that is lost but the amount, of whatever type.Returning to my earlier line of thinking the greater the sleep loss the more the sleepiness, and the greater the impairment to the behavioural countermeasures, etc. Remember, as REM sleep deprivation allows animals mo

China and Globalization Essay

chinas rapid ascent as one of the worlds fastest- festering economies (Adornino & Wilcox, 96) has triggered enormous attention among scholars interested not only in the political, stinting and social underpinnings of its continued growth but also in the implications of its increased integration with the global scrimping. Indeed, an examination of the unique characteristic of chinawares schooling and transition from a planned, centralized economy based on the socialist ideology to the lib datel, open- grocery store economy it is today strengthens the arguments in support of globalization.On the former(a) hand, the impact of its liberalization and democratization on Chinas poor also presents a critical view on the trade-offs of global integration. The stage for Chinas entry into the global economy was clearly set by the transition from a closed, relatively self-sufficient economy which was crystallized in the post-Mao era under Deng Xiaopings leadership in the Chinese Communist pa rty. In the late 1970s, the Party began instituting domestic stinting and social reforms mirroring its abandonment of the socialist economy and ideology in favor of neoliberal economics.(Adormino & Wilcox 96) Among the major reforms undertaken was the development and democratization of trade and merchandises, effectively allowing uncontrolled private ownership to the means of production, heretofore owned publicly, and the shift from a planned economy to a market place-oriented free trading system. (Guan, 2001118) Likewise, the Chinese government reduced fix control and intervention in economic activities as it began to adopt an Open Door policy to attract foreign direct investment and facilitate the growth of Chinas international trade.Thus, China became part of the global economy after economic liberalization and democratization. On the other hand, the countrys integration into the neoliberal world economic pose has also been the subject of much criticism. Guan (2000) notes t hat the implementation of market reforms and Chinas consequent integration drastically changed not only the countrys economic system but also important aspects of its social policy. (119) As a result of the shift to a free market economy, the States social function in the provision of welfare and security for its citizens significantly diminished.For instance, food and price subsidies have been stopped and the poor are faced with the risks of unemployment. Likewise, Guan (2001) asserts that widening social variety has also characterized modern China despite sustained economic growth and efforts at reforming social policy to provide safety nets for labor, agriculture, and other poor sectors. (243) Undoubtedly, acquaintance of both the negative and positive aspects of liberalization informs the Chinese governments attitude toward global economic integration.This is evident in the manner by which the state has controlled the pace of Chinas integration with the international economy in order to preserve social stability. (Adornino & Wilcox, 97 Yong & Moore, 117) However, Yong and Moore (2004) attribute the States waryness of completely and totally embracing globalization to its fear of the inherent weaknesses and vulnerabilities of a globalized system that could jeopardize Chinas strategic outlook as an aspiring grand great power. (117) China is thus effectively hindered from fully associating itself with the global economy due to its political identity as a socialist country and to the fact that the market reform has resulted into the further fragmentation of interests in Chinese society. Thus, it is in the most ironic sense that, as Adornino and Wilcox (2006) observe, the Chinese Communist Party legitimizes its rule and power through a flourishing capitalist economy.(100) The State is therefore careful of rushing headlong into a fully open, liberalized country since this would entail the further wearing of its power as market reforms have increasingly dev olved decision-making powers to producers and enterprise managers. (Adornino & Wilcox, 100) The further diffussion and decentralization of power threatens not only the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party but also endangers the country to social instability as the needs of its citizens become increasingly diverse and at the same time polarized between those benefitting from the market reform and those who have lost much because of it.(Adornino & Wilcox, 100) Chinas experience in globalization is arguably unique due to the governments ambivalency in adopting a clearly Capitalist stance and ideology and the pressure created by the need for social equality. Chinas integration to the global market is hampered by internal difficulties in aligning various political and economic interests. On the one hand, Chinas economic restructuring has created a rapidly growing and expanding market and trading system integrated with the international economy.On the other hand, its government has to precariously balance competing interests in social and domestic policy, resolve the problems in social inequality, and at the same time reduce its involvement in economic activities as demanded by the free market economy. Thus, while the benefits of Chinas rapidly growing economy is obvious for the elite, the host of political and social problems created in its wake also makes the majority of the Chinese people bear the brunt of the development from a clearly socialist path into an ambivalent capitalist society. Works Cited Adormino, Giovanni and Wilcox, Russel G.China Between Social Stability and Market Integration. China & World providence 14. 3(2006)95-108. Guan, Xin Ping. Chinas Social Policy Reform and Development in the Context of Marketization and Globalization. Social Policy and Administration 34. 1(2000)115-130. Guan, Xinping. Globalization, Inequality, and Social Policy China on the Treshold of Entry into the World Trade Organization. Social Policy and Administrati on 35. 3(2001)242-257. Yong, Deng and Moore, Thomas G. China Views Globalization Toward a New Great Power Politics? The capital letter Quarterly 27. 3(2004)117-136.