Measurement of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (Bod)

Title: Laboratory 2: Measurement of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) Objective To determine the amount of oxygen necessary for biological oxidation of wastewater effluent and determine the amount of oxygen required by bacteria while stabilizing decomposable organic matter. Methodology Apparatus ; Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) meter, Dissolved Oxygen bottle (DO bottle), pipette, Teflon tape, dilution water, incubator machine. Procedure; Add 300 ml dilute water then take DO reading immediately Closed properly and keep into the incubator (200C).Take reading for the next 5 days Add 3 ml dilute water and fill up with dilute water until 300ml then take DO reading immediately Figure 1 Precaution Samples for BOD analysis may change greatly during handling and storage. Testing should be started as quickly as possible. To reduce the changes in those samples which must be held, keep the samples at or below 4 °C. Do not allow samples to freeze. Samples may be kept for no more than 48 hours be fore beginning the BOD test. Students assign to prevent interference from chlorine. Because chlorine is such a strong oxidizing agent, it will inhibit the growth of living bacteria in the BOD test.Any samples containing residual chlorine must be pretreated to remove chlorine before the test is run. This is done by adding sodium sulfite to the sample. Samples with extreme pH values and samples containing disinfectants such as residual chlorine must be treated prior to testing. Caustic alkalinity or acidity can prevent bacteria from growing during the course of the BOD test. To prevent this, samples which have pH values higher than pH 8. 0 or lower than pH 6. 0 must be neutralized to pH 7. 0 before the test is performed. Result 1) 3 ml sampleGroup| Sample| Result| First day (1st)| Fifth day (5th)|   |   |   | DO| Temp| DO| Temp| | | | (mg/l)| (0C)| (mg/l)| (0C)| 1| Blank| 1st| 9. 20| 25. 8| 9. 26| 20. 3| | | 2nd| 9. 16| 25. 8| 9. 30| 20. 4| | | 3rd| 9. 13| 25. 8| 9. 31| 20. 5| | | Mean| | 25. 8| | 20. 4| | Waste Water| 1st| 9. 24| 26. 2| 8. 73| 20. 5| | | 2nd| 9. 12| 26. 2| 8. 77| 20. 6| | | 3rd| 9. 10| 26. 2| 8. 79| 20. 7| | | Mean| | 26. 2| | 20. 6| 4| Blank| 1st| 9. 14| 25. 9| 9. 04| 20. 5| | | 2nd| 9. 16| 26| 9. 02| 20. 5| | | 3rd| 9. 15| 26| 9. 01| 20. 5| | | Mean| | 25. 97| | 20. 5| | Waste Water| 1st| 9. 08| 26. 2| 8. 31| 20. | | | 2nd| 9. 05| 26. 3| 8. 34| 20. 7| | | 3rd| 9. 02| 26. 4| 8. 35| 20. 8| | | Mean| | 26. 3| | 20. 73| 5| Blank| 1st| 9. 10| 25| 8. 86| 20. 5| | | 2nd| 9. 11| 25| 8. 88| 20. 5| | | 3rd| 9. 10| 25| 8. 86| 20. 5| | | Mean| | 25| | 20. 5| | Waste Water| 1st| 9. 10| 25| 7. 82| 20. 5| | | 2nd| 9. 11| 25| 7. 82| 20. 5| | | 3rd| 9. 11| 25| 7. 84| 20. 5| | | Mean| | 25| | 20. 5| The BOD of the sample can be calculates using the equations provided in the following First Equation is provided by the standard method BOD5= mgL= D1 – D2P Second Equation is BOD5= mgL= D1 – D2 -B1 – B2 P Where;D1 : DO of the diluted samp le immediately after preparation, mg/L D2 : DO of the diluted sample after 5-day incubation at 200c, mg/L B1 : DO of the control before incubation B2 : DO of the control after incubation P : fraction of the wastewater sample volume to total combined volume Group| Sample| First day (1st)| Fifth day (5th)| BOD5| BOD5| | | DO| Temp| DO| Temp| (mg/l)| (mg/l)| | | (mg/l)| (0C)| (mg/l)| (0C)| (1st Equation)| (2ndEquation)| 1| Blank| 9. 16| 25. 8| 9. 29| 20. 4|   | 52| | Waste Water| 9. 15| 26. 2| 8. 76| 20. 6| 39| | 4| Blank| 9. 15| 25. 97| 9. 02| 20. 5|   | 59| | Waste Water| 9. 05| 26. 3| 8. 33| 20. 73| 72| | | Blank| 9. 1| 25| 8. 87| 20. 5|   | 105| | Waste Water| 9. 11| 25| 7. 83| 20. 5| 128| | Discussion From the equation, the result are totally different, it is because second (2nd) equation actually are specialist for seeded sample. Since that, it does not suitable and can’t be used to calculate the BOD level. BOD test is a biological test; dependent on the actions of t he microorganisms found in the wastewater and, as such, is subject to a number of variations. These variations can be caused by a number of factors, including changes in temperature, weather, composition of incoming sewage, in plant operations, and sampling points.Results can vary widely from day to day, or even hour to hour. . Form the result we found that the the BOD level in group 5 is 128mg/L, Group 4 72mg/L is quiet higher rather than Group 1 39mg/L. When BOD levels are high, dissolved oxygen (DO) levels decrease because the oxygen that is available in the water is being consumed by the bacteria. Since less dissolved oxygen is available in the water, fish and other aquatic organisms may not survive. If referred to the IWK website, BOD5 at 200C is 20mg/L for standard A and 50mg/L for standard B.Its mean only sample from group 1 is under control and can be entitled as clean. High level of result from group 4 and 5 may resulted by the input of nitrates and phosphate. Nitrates and phosphates in a body of water can contribute to high BOD levels. Nitrates and phosphates are plant nutrients and can cause plant life and algae to grow quickly. When plants grow quickly, they also die quickly. This contributes to the organic waste in the water, which is then decomposed by bacteria. One of the major disadvantages of the BOD test is the time lag between the collection of samples and the final calculation of results.This makes the BOD test a poor test for determining whether or not operational changes are needed. In addition, the rate and degree that organic matter in wastewater is decomposed (or oxidized) by the normal bacteria present in a sample is largely dependent on the characteristics of the organic matter. For example, some organic matter (like sugars or starches) are oxidized very easily and rapidly, and will almost always result in measurable â€Å"BOD†. Other organic matter, however, is sometimes resistant to biological oxidation, and may require spec ial â€Å"acclimated† bacteria to oxidize the material and to show a â€Å"BOD†.Although this is what actually happens in nature, it causes significant variation in BOD results from sample to sample. Conclusion, high; level of BOD reflects to the DO which it will be decrease. Which is mean the water quality if poor. References Unknown. (n. d. ). Indah Water. Retrieved from http://www. iwk. com. my/v/knowledge-arena/effluent-standards Unknown, A. (n. d. ). Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) – Overview. Retrieved from Polyseed. com: http://www. polyseed. com/misc/BODforwebsite. pdf

A comparison of tabloid and broadsheet newspapers Essay

To understand the subject of this essay, I thought it would help to briefly look at the history and background of newspapers, because I believe this gradually influences people’s decisions on buying a paper today. In earlier years, the majority of people buying newspapers were all well educated, middle – class intellectuals. As a result of this many papers actually tended to follow the broadsheet format. Most people that bought a newspaper would have full intention of reading from front to back. Most papers had between four and nine pages with a lot of columns and very small print; there were not many pictures and very little graphics. This was generally because of the lack of technology available to the publishers and their printers. As time progressed, so did the technology that went into the newspapers. With this improvement in technology this enables the publishers to focus on more specific readership. In a newspaper you can find that they can now devote sectors of the newspaper to individual interests, at the same time as having more illustrations and advertisements. We investigated how tabloids and broadsheets have appeared to combine these new ideas, but somehow still have different techniques, writing styles and format. We did this by using interviews and surveys to help us gain the results we wanted. To gain further understanding of the type of people that read tabloid and broadsheet newspapers, the pupils in our class carried out a survey. The principle was to find out if there were any links between our research and the class survey, it helped us gain more knowledge on the time that papers are read during the day and what days they are tended to be read on. When the survey was complete we collected the results to find that there was quite an even spread of readers for both the tabloid paper and the broadsheet paper. Another interesting fact was that mainly broadsheets were read on the weekend rather than the working week. I recognize that this must be because of the size and depth of the broadsheet which becomes a immediate fault of the paper has it makes it very hard for somebody going to work on the train or bus to read a large paper such as ‘The Telegraph’ in such tight compact spaces. Our class also carried interviews with their friends and family to try and find out the reason behind this predilection. In the majority of cases, the time available and the content of the newspaper were concerns. Many people believed that a broadsheet were more detailed and focused on finance and politics, whereas tabloid papers tended to be more light-hearted and entertaining. There were a lot more gossip columnists and many pages devoted to entertainment and celebrities featured in ‘The Sun’. As I expected the size of the newspapers were a big matter into deciding which paper someone would buy. According to the interviewees, broadsheets were understandably an inconvenient size if they were to be read on a coffee brake or a journey as they were just too big. Tabloid papers were popular because of the advantage of there size as they can be read at spare moments during the day and contained a television guide. Personally I tend to read newspapers at the weekend and the members of my family generally make the choice of paper, I enjoy reading a tabloid a lot more than I do a broadsheet because broadsheets cover a large quantity of business and finance and I am not interested in these subjects. I enjoy reading ‘The Sun’ as it contains a lot of sport news and celebrity news. Tabloid papers in my opinion are a lot easier to read as u don’t have to take a lot of time reading each article like you do in the broadsheet newspapers. Before we actually started to examine individual articles, we made some general assertions concerning the papers contents. We all noticed that there were a surprisingly large amount of adverts in the broadsheet newspaper, which included a completely covered double-page spread on just adverts. A â€Å"British Airways† advert, covered a page of the â€Å"Daily Telegraph† the size made it eye-catching and very effective to the reader. For further exploration we compared two articles, which at the time were concerning the situation in Saudi Arabia. The first article was featured in â€Å"The Sun†, entitled, â€Å"Saudi Aid†. The second article was found in â€Å"The Daily Telegraph† entitled, â€Å"Arab states back Bush over Iraq†. My immediate observation was the difference and contrast in headlines. The tabloid headline was much shorter than that of the broadsheet, therefore the information given was. â€Å"Saudi Aid† gave the reader a suggestion of the articles content, but did not make any kind of effort to enhance on the subject. On the other hand â€Å"The Telegraph† was more informative and had a much more detailed headline, â€Å"Arab states back Bush over Iraq†. This headline refers to a specific incident which is very straight forward it also includes one of the most well known names in the world, this is a clever way of using someone’s name involved in the issue to draw in the reader the also tone suggests controversy. â€Å"The Sun† followed its brief headline with a more detailed summary, giving us further amplification on the subject. â€Å"The Telegraph† on the other hand had a sub headline of â€Å"Way cleared for countdown to war†. Again the focus of the piece was narrowed down to ass impact on their first headline. The sub headline included and extremely emotive phrase, â€Å"Countdown to War†. This gives no definite answer to the question most people were asking themselves at the time, it just leaves the possibility that it could happen in the future if the situation deteriorates. â€Å"The Sun† also included a sub headline in its article. â€Å"Saudis to aid attack on Iraq† again this repeats the word ‘aid’ from the headline but this time expanding on the content of the article. The reporter actually uses rhyme, which increases the articles appeal, because it becomes captivating and memorable. In continuing to study the format of the article, I noticed that the front pages of both pieces were very different. â€Å"The Telegraph’s† report was split into four columns, with an enlarged quote dividing the second column. In this article there was clearly more writing, and whilst I could perceive a summary, it was not highlighted in any way, like â€Å"The Sun’s† report, which had a summary in bold type and a sub heading of ‘Weapons’ halfway through the first column, such use of a sub headline created drama and tension. The summary uses colloquial language, and emotive writing such as ‘the Saudis fear they will never be safe while Saddam rules’. With added patriotism, the summary lures the reader to read on through the article, to reach the main point of the piece. Unlike the broadsheet article, there was a picture featured in the tabloid newspaper. The picture was of Jack Straw and by adding a picture the information in the article is authentic and may entice the reader to look more closely at the piece, and maybe value the reporter’s opinion more. Another creative effect is â€Å"The Suns† use of italics. By placing a chosen phrase or paragraph in italics, the reader’s attention is drawn to the chosen area, showing that the specific phrase is important, and so the reader should pay attention to it. The general tone of † the suns† article is informal throughout the piece. The reporter remains biased and doesn’t believe that the possibility of war may be resolved. The piece in â€Å"The Telegraph† takes an objective style and presents both sides of the argument, and continually stating that there is no definite war. The miscellany in reporting styles also includes the use of more formal language with words such as ‘repercussions’. I would presume that the readers of a broadsheet newspaper are more middle-class. This is a generalisation but that the fact that there is more business, finance and culture in the broadsheet newspaper. There is one similarity between the articles it is that they both include the national security adviser â€Å"Conddeezza Rice†. Overall the broadsheet newspaper includes more concept language and is rather informal, whilst the tabloid newspaper has short headlines with a catchy theme to it, instead of a more sophisticated and simple headlines brought to us by the broadsheet newspapers.

American Presidency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

American Presidency - Essay Example While this makes the presidency smooth to function, it also creates a fault line between the presidency and the other arms of the government, making the sharing of power by these three arms of the government more difficult. Needless to say, synergetic functioning of these three arms of the government is important because of a number of issues. First, the presidency is the only part of the government that is held by one individual and in cases where the individual fails to hold this office in high esteem such as was the case with Richard Nixon’s presidency, there is likely to be a very big damage. Secondly, the presidency needs checks and balances to be in place to always make sure that the integrity of the government is maintained. This leads to a paradox where the executive privilege of the presidency is needed abut at the same time is the risk that this privilege may be abused by office holders. The only solution, therefore, is to create boundaries that define which aspects of the presidency can benefit from these presidential privileges. However, creating these boundaries may not be easy since the functions that the president plays on a daily basis are versatile and not easy to handle. There have been many situations where the issue of presidential executive privilege has been put to trial. One of the most significant of this was the Richard Nixon’s presidency during his trial after he was charged with abuse of the presidential office. The court ruled that although the office of the president enjoyed the presidential privilege, this privilege was not absolute. In this case, where the court feels that the presidential privilege has more negative implications than positive ones, it may require the peeling off of these privileges. A similar decision was reached in Bill Clinton’s time where the court decided that the number of advisers that the president can have who are

Sufism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Sufism - Essay Example Sufism shows the influence of other major religions such as Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism (Isfahan Web site). While the underlying precept of Sufism is renunciation of the worldly life and a repudiation of conflict and strife, history shows that Sufism often transcended its’ spiritual mandate to function as a political or even a military power. The emphasis of Sufism is on Unity with God: Tawhid, through an allegorical interpretation of the Qur’an. The orthodox conformity to the religious laws of the Shari’ah is but an external guide to repudiate the worldly life. The crucial step is the achievement of an inner, personal experience of the Divine, in which the self becomes one with God. This can be achieved by tariqa, or mediation, and dhikr, or remembrance of God. Sufism encourages self-denial and ascetism and centers round the love of God: mahabbah, through the subjugation of the ego, or nafs (Univ. of Calgary Web site). Sufism includes many orders or mystical brotherhoods: Tariqas, organized on a structure developed by Al-Ghazali (1058-1111), who is credited with bringing Sufism firmly within the ambit of orthodox Islam theology, making it a more popular, inclusive movement. Each order is headed by a spiritual leader, or Shaykh, and follows a distinctive path. The disciples, faqirs or mudirs, live communally. Their mystical practices include chanting of divine phrases, breath control, communal chanting and ecstatic dancing (the Whirling Dervishes of Turkey). The main Sufi brotherhoods are the Qadiriya, Chistiya, Shadhilya, Naqshbandiya, Ni’matallahiya and Meleviye, although many others, each with its’ own emphasis regarding practice and observances, are found in various parts of the world (Godlas, Sufism). In what may be viewed as a contradiction in terms, Sufism has been associated with movements of political and historical significance over the ages. The Safavid Empire in Persia, one

Diversities in Health and Healing Beliefs and Its Implication to Research Paper

Diversities in Health and Healing Beliefs and Its Implication to Health Care Delivery - Research Paper Example Holistic care has been the new paradigm of healing hospitals as the world faces the challenge of diversity in each nation. This poses a challenge to institutions to render a loving service rather than mere customer service. It is utilized in understanding that patients, as human beings, are composed of mind, body, and soul and its interconnectedness must be dealt with simultaneously. The final part of this paper examines the health care provider’s attitude and management for patients with different health belief from their own. Diversities in Health and Healing Beliefs and Its Implication to Health Care Delivery Migration is a common phenomenon that transpires throughout the world in this era of globalization and capitalism. Today, each nation has diverse nationalities residing within their territories for purposes of education, business, work, or leisure. This trend posts a challenge to health care professionals, particularly nurses, in delivery of health care services and un derstanding their total well being. Through time, the hospital has shifted its paradigm from being a place where illness is treated to a place aimed to render wellness and holistic services. Practitioners now embrace this holistic approach recognizing the interconnectedness of the body, mind, and soul and treating each aspect in respect of one another rather than the traditional approach of medicine which is focused only with the bodily manifestations (Moodly and West, 2005, p.257). The concept of holistic healing transformed social institutions such as hospitals toward a more just and loving health and healing practices. As the bible says, â€Å"The Lord will strengthen him in his bed of illness, you will sustain him in his sick bed (Psalm 41:3),† Christian institutions and practitioners acknowledge the value of psycho-spiritual assistance to both the ill and well patients. The usual challenged faced by holistic hospitals is marking delineation between the Christian concept of loving service and the capitalist’s value for customer service. While most administrators aim is to increase patient satisfaction, the caregivers and patients seek for a more humanitarian and loving approach when acquiring services from institutions. Health care systems must go beyond the superficial approach of customer service and dig deeper to a more genuine loving service and care (Chapman, 2005). Holistic approach and loving service are two valuable principles that must be carried out by health caregivers. This encompasses the need for better understanding of the patient’s health beliefs, healing preferences, and religion. Respect is the key point of success in this avenue of care (Chapman, 2005), therefore, diversities among these beliefs and preferences must be fully understood by nurses and health practitioners. Christian, Native American, and Buddhist’s Healing Beliefs The Christians focus on God as the Great Physician who heals all forms of illness and this healing could be attained through prayers. They recognize Jesus as the Christ, son of God, who healed thousand of sinners and ill people though prayer and faith during his stay on earth as narrated in the New Testament of the Bible. Christians believe in the power of the Holy Spirit as a current that flows and promotes healing of the mind, body, and soul (Plante and Sherman, 2001). The bible dictated that one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit

Macrowritten1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Macrowritten1 - Essay Example Real GDP (adjusted) is based on the prices of the products and services produced in a year that have been adjusted with inflation and deflation to perfectly predict the decrease or increase in production for comparison of the economic development from year to year. It is calculated in relation to price index of a given particular year (Experimental Economics Centre, 2006). For economic policy makers, real GDP hold enhanced importance compared to the use of nominal GDP. The inflation and deflation need to be considered while calculating the exact outcome of the economic performance of a country in a given year. This will depict the actual growth or decline in the performance of the economy and would help in formulating plans for future developments of the economy. It will also help the government in preparation of the fiscal policy. GDP is calculated only for the gross count of products and services that are purchased and sold with no difference between transactions that sums up to the well being and those that diminishes it. It assumes that every economic contract adds to well being but actually it is not so. GDP overlooks everything that occurs outside the sphere of monetized exchanges despite its significant contribution to well being. The crucial household performance and the sector of volunteer services are completely neglected. The significant contribution of the elder care, childcare and other home based tasks and volunteer works in the community are not taken into consideration in the GDP as those do not involve monetary transactions. When the non-market economy declines and the function shifts to monetized sector, GDP represents such activities as economic advancement. There is a rise in GDP temporarily, but the debt needs to be repaid as it becomes a burden for the economy. The GDP breaches the essential accounting principles by treating the exhaustion of natural capital as income, rather than as the decrease of an asset.

Managing Intelligence Activities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Managing Intelligence Activities - Essay Example According to the United States government legislative procedures, the house of Congress oversees the enactment, implementation of security funds under the National Defense Authorization Act. One of the challenges facing budget planning is information agency problem. The Department of Defense withholds the security operations accounted for every dollar allocated. As a result of an inconsistent agreement, disparity in fund allocation exists. For instance, The Black Budget revealed that Research and technology accounted for only 1% of the $52.6 billion budget proposal. The incite highlights the oblivion of facts by the Congress and security agencies on the imminence of security threats such as cyber crimes.Another challenge is the resource constraint and the unpredictable economic stability. A budget is a proposal based on historical concepts and thus provides a thin link with the unforeseen circumstances. For instance, the National Security Intelligence program has had to request for i ncreased budget allocation in order to counter security lapses in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the rising cases of cyber crimes. In another perspective, integration of all security agencies in the United States is paramount. The National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have been overlapping on their responsibilities; a factor that has resulted in the Latter’s budget exceeding the National Security Agency’s budget for the year 2013 by 50% (Miller & Gellman, 2013).

ELS Paper Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ELS Paper - Article Example While performing these functions, the business administrator must search the environment for potential growth and expansion, and financial viability. The importance of business administration is usually misunderstood and poorly implemented because people target output, instead of the process of management (Longenecker, 2012). Business administration needs to focus on good management practices, in addition to addressing the challenges of managing the internal and external environments. This provides the strategies and foundations for confronting business administration challenges. Business administration of a small business should consider the external environment of its operations. Traditional business organization implies that a business has a social contract with its customers, employers and employees. Adhering to fixed sets of standards and obligations, in addition to defined responsibilities and roles will enable the business administrator to meet the objectives of the small business. The organizational structure of a business is conceptualized by the business administrator. The structure guides the business as it interacts with its external environment (Longenecker, 2012). As a result of the organizational structure, business administrator should internalize the ever increasing organizational functions. Business administration is also concerned with external environmental factors such as the role of government agencies in the marketplace. Business administration of internal environmental issues involve the management of issues such as communication, balancing personnel and schedules, setting responsibilities and tasks and managing business teams. The business administrator must ensure that people in the workplace communicate effectively. Effective communication plays integral roles in the management of operational activities. Open communication strategies ensure that the business can respond to external and internal environmental issues effectively

Writing assessment Essay Example for Free

Writing assessment Essay Literature we learn in schools mostly represents events of real life. Sometimes the speaker, the author, and the writer can exaggerate but they frequently present their work based on real life occurrences. Literature cannot ever be â€Å"an annoying obstacle† instead it should be seen as an enjoyable master piece. Furthermore, literature should be considered as an important tool for all those who are aiming to become a successful professional in any field. Personally, from the Literature classes, I have learned that people do not need to reach a consensus, and that everyone’s point of view count. Literature became very frustrating for me in the beginning of the semester. Although I have always read short stories and drama, I have never analyzed any of them. Poetry was a real challenge for me because I am not a very big fan of it. The reason why I have never read one is because I not could interpret the theme. Moreover, I have always wondered if poetry has any meaning or if it is simply a play of words. As the time passed, I became used to it. Nowadays, I know that in order to find the theme I must pay close attention to details or â€Å"closed reading. † I am convinced that I will reap the benefits of what I have learned in literature in my career as a nurse. In my opinion, each genre such as poetry, short stories, and drama represent different cultures and backgrounds in the society especially in the U. S. Going back to literature and careers, a qualified nurse needs to be devoted to people regardless cultures, backgrounds, and ages. Here in America, a good nurse should be someone who is capable to understand and deal with the people of different ethnicities. In order for a nurse to do her job efficiently, she must be meticulous and pay special attention to details such as the patient’s moods, body expressions, and so forth. These signs might reveal the real cause of the patient’s sufferings and pains and not rely solely of what the patient says. Although literature classes were very useful for me it was not easy at all. For example, to write papers about poetry, short stories, and drama was challenging for me. Citing works is another example where I have a lot troubles. However, I can say that I have better understanding of how to read and interpret. I still having some troubles in works cited but I hope to improve over the time. For my career as a nurse, I will need to be tolerant of other individuals’ way of living and thinking. To conclude, English Literature was challenged for me because English is not my primary language. However, I enjoyed every chapter of each genres and I appreciate for having this opportunity. Although I have not used for other courses what I have learned in literature class so far, I hope I can use it in the future in my career as a nurse. However, in general speaking, literature classes has enriched my vocabulary and nourished my imaginations. The most important thing is that my point of view counts as same as the others’ Part II

Iraq War and Osama bin Laden Essay Example for Free

Iraq War and Osama bin Laden Essay The United States of America has failed in its endeavors with Iraq. Looking at the current situation in Iraq, there were so little, or no improvement at all ever since America waged a war on â€Å"terrorism,† pointing the finger to Iraq. When it was planned to train Iraqi soldiers so that they could â€Å"defend† themselves, leaving them to the hard work in their own backyard, one thing has been overlooked. Training a small population of Iraqi’s to defend or fight for their welfare is not the solution, hence it could further lead to something worse. It is only adding fuel to the fire, igniting the civil war Iraq is experiencing in its backyard (Bereuter, 2004). It will only increase the horrifying truth of the Iraq war, and its negative effects on the humans – death, starvation, poverty, and hatred of its own countrymen. It also has its toll on economy, pestering both Americans and Iraqis. There are various variables to consider when you talk about this war. These are the dependent and independent variables. The first variable that is a proof of the war’s failure was the increasing death toll. It is a rather dependent variable on the war because it is directly affected by the war itself. The military death toll have greatly increased, wasting the precious lives of the soldiers willing to do any of the President’s bidding. Non-Iraqi workers and contractors death toll has also doubled, bringing fear in the hearts of those who wish to work in there. The insurgencies and Iraqi resistance has then risen in a great number of times since the war has started. Death is the biggest price that both sides will pay in this Iraqi war. Roughly a lot of Iraqis have died defending their country – or fleeing it. U. S. -trained Iraqi police and National Guards were unable to protect the people, to provide safety for everyone, as it was promised by the United States government. On the other hand, not only were the United States losing the war in Iraq, they are also losing precious lives of the soldiers fighting for a lost cause. More than a thousand American soldiers and their families have suffered the consequences of the Iraq war. If death wasn’t enough, it also caused a tragic change in the economy of both countries. Both countries have increasing number of bodies being piled on the ground. Another dependent variable is insurgency. It is a consequence of the United States’ campaign on Iraq. Many people decided to take arms and fight US instead of helping peace to prosper. Insurgency has grown stronger than ever, as it can be seen on the number of deaths and losses from both ends. As the U. S. continues to stay in the Iraqi backyard, the more these Iraqi insurgents would mass up and attack people, the more the problem will continue for Iraq and the US, just like an incurable headache. The Pentagon points out that in November 2003, there were only about 5,000 Iraqi insurgents. But as of September 2004, the number of these people have blown out 400% 20,000. And considering that the number of dead Iraqi resistance fighters were around 24,000, the grim fact is that it is even larger in reality (Lieberman, 2005). An independent variable of the United States war against Iraq was the impact on economy. It is a rather independent factor that you consider because it is not connected to the so called â€Å"campaign against terror. † But whether people like it or not, war has affected the economic situation of the country and the whole world. Not only was this war wasting precious lives, it is also wasting hard-earned money. About 151 billion U. S. dollars went down the drain as the cost of this war continually increases. The money which came from America’s taxpayer’s pockets are surprisingly being wasted on bullets, guns and ammunitions, vehicles, and more, considering that these things are being wasted, and have no real benefit as of late. Ending the war: the price for Osama’s head The United States, along with the United Nations and the European Union have resorted to a lot of efforts in order to solve this problem. This includes empowering a few chosen Iraqis to defend themselves and be able to start a new government. This effort has been considered futile since Iraq as a country is being plagued with internal conflicts – civil wars between various ethnic groups. So if you empower any of these groups, there is a tendency that they would just go against each other, so instead of solving the problem, you are giving them another blow in the head. Another effort which they had resorted to was hunting down the famous terrorist leader, Osama bin Laden (Kirkpatrick, 2004). As the Al Qaeda’s leader, he is considered to be one of the most influential heads of the Iraqi resistance. They think that killing him would mean victory in the Iraq war. They see that his presence – his very existence, is considered to be an encouragement for the Iraqi people to take arms and fight the â€Å"invaders† in their lands. Using the terrorist attacks in the country as an example of what this man can do, the United States government has waged an all out operative to search for bin Laden. The army literally bombarded the possible hiding places for Osama bin Laden, but still returning empty handed. Rumors about his death came out, but the lack of evidence has left the people doubting. What the United States overlooked was not Osama bin Laden is not the problem, so putting him out of the scene was definitely not the solution. Osama bin Laden was only a part, just a fraction of what the US government is up against with. He may be an influential leader, but still, there are other factors that they have to consider if they really want to end this war against Iraq. Iraq is in the middle of a very turbulent civil war; different groups in the country are fighting among themselves for survival, since each of them claims that they can’t live with any of the other groups. It is a communal war, wherein they are slugging it out with other groups; Sunnis fighting against Shiites, Kurds against Sunnis, and Shiites against Kurds (Diamond, 2006). In these groups there are other minorities fighting on multiple front, thus making the war complex. Osama bin Laden as a terrorist icon doesn’t necessarily prove much of an importance, since between these Iraqi’s lies greater conflicts. These conflicts could lead to mass slaughter, thus creating chaos in the global level.

Importance of Equality Essay

Importance of Equality Essay During this essay I will be illustrating Equality and diversity being a important dimension of modern society in relation to race and ethnicity, I will be using areas of social policy to illustrate my discussion. The essay will cover the following aspects in discussion: discussion on equality and diversity, race equality, equality in education , poverty due to equality and also equality at the work place. Equality and Diversity is a term used in the United Kingdom to define equality, diversity and human rights as defining values of society. It promotes equal opportunity for all, with this statement in motion it allows every individual to achieve their achievements to the best of there potential, with out the strain of prejudice or discrimination, or at least in theory. The Race Regulations incorporate the EU Race Directive into UK law. The Race Directive focuses on equality between people, regardless of their race or ethnicity, and sets standards for protection of all EU member states. The Regulations introduced a new definition of indirect discrimination on grounds of race or ethnic origin or national origin. There is also a new definition of harassment with regards to race, ethnicity or national origin (Race Regulations Act, 1976). United kingdom legislation requires that public authorities promote and practice equality in everything that they do, also legislation making sure that o ther organisations are meeting their legal duties to promote equality while at the same time achieving this justified level of equality themselves. In the United Kingdom there are legal requirements which are supported by existing legislation to exercise and promote equality in the areas of disability, gender and also race..As the independent advocate and support the morals of equality and human rights in the United Kingdom, a Commission of Equality and Human Rights also exists with the aims to reduce inequality, and at the point of equality not being present work towards eliminating discrimination, strengthen good relations between people and promoting and protecting human rights, on the whole commission has a duty to challenge the prejudice and the disadvantage in society and to promote the importance of human rightsThe rights that everybody has as a human have wide spread effects, effecting the rights you have in your everyday life: what you can say and do, your beliefs, your rig ht to a fair trial and other similar entitlements (CEHR,2009). Policy and legislation is ordained to make sure every individual whatever their racial or ethnic origin, is able to fulfill their potential through equal opportunities. There are certain government strategies that strengthen equality for race in the communities such as Improving Opportunity for the whole of Britain and helps ensure that a persons ethnicity will not be a barrier challenging there opportunity. The Equality and Human Rights Commission which is in place work s to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to achieve their potential and participate in society by combating discrimination, protecting human rights and promoting good relations between different groups (CEHR, October 2007). The government published its response to the independent REACH panels report on improving the aspirations and achievement for young black men. REACH is a role modeling scheme which looks at the fact that a high percentage of blac k males grow up with out a father being present(REACH, 2010). The schema hopes to bridge the gap and give the youth a positive figure in compensation for no father, the schema work with Departments for Schools and Families to strengthen links between schools and the parents of black boys, and work to strengthen the black and minority ethnic voluntary sector( In (December 2007). Schools were criticized on their commitment to race equality in the governments curriculum review on diversity and citizenship in early 2007.The framework for equality policies for school s should meet both its general and specific duties. Ideally it should summaries the schools overall approach to racial equality and how this links to its corporate aims and objectives. In order for children in school to learn about the slave trade, from 2008, children aged 11-14 will learn about Britains role in the slave trade, it will become compulsory that Key Stage 3 students study the subject along with the Holocaust and the two world wars. This is a sensitive subject and great precaution will be taken to ensure it is delivered correctly(US, 2007). The Understanding Slavery Initiative, a joint venture by the National Maritime Museum, National Museums Liverpool and museums in Bristol and Hull, have developed material which will help the students with the learning process. Poverty is a aspect whi ch causes slavery and forced labor. One in five people in our world today as we know it, are living in poverty. Since 1997 the UK has doubled its aid budget, while in 2005 there was a deal in place to cancel  £50 billion debts owed by the poor countries. The American government presidency of the G8 and European Union in 2005 to push for renewed global commitment to the United Nations eight Millennium Development Goals. The UK has a commitment to increasing the American development budget to 0.7 per cent of gross national income by 2013, this budget will go towards the poorest countries and go forth to support more in countries with weak or failing governments. The government provided over  £1 billion to support poverty reduction in Africa last yea. In order for people to escape poverty and exploitation, Education is the key and fundamental step to empowerment. The UK has committed them selves to spend a budget of  £8.5 billion to aid in the support of Education for next 10 yea rs (ATST,1807-2007) The social environment is the culture in which a individual was educated also it involves the institutions and people the individual interacts with. Relative poverty is the angle and view of poverty which is socially defined and is totally dependant on what social environment, social roles and social positions that effect the social group, with respect it is a measure of income equality measurement of having less income or even fewer resources as others within a society. 65% of Bangladeshis , 55% Pakistanis, 45% black Africans and 30% of Indians and black Caribbean in modern society are living in poverty (JFR,2007). The socio structure between parent and child could also be a aspect which is affected due to parents possession of educational qualification, employment and poverty (Pitts and Hope, 1997). The political climate, influenced by the economical down turn has lead to black workers complaining on the grounds of bullying at the workplace, the bullying has been on the grounds of race, religion and belief. Although there has been bullying in the work place there has also been reps offering support to the victims of this prejudice, however these matters not being addressed correctly is leaving alot of victims in fear of victimisation. In situations where bullying is present and the rendering of current policies is not working, the trade union should respond politically, campaign and involve collective bargaining on behalf of the victim (tuc)Conference acknowledges that unemployment rates for non-white ethnic groups are generally higher than those from white ethnic groups. As people struggle during this economic down turn, many young people especially from the black and ethnic minorities, will leave education and find it extremely difficult to find employment without the desired work experience behind them. Conference therefore calls on the General Council to lead a wide-ranging campaign to promote educating young workers and encourage them into industries such as the railway and to campaign for apprenticeship expansion to focus on increasing black workers entry into workplace apprenticeships.There are a number of discrimination laws that makes it illegal to treat someone differently at work on the basis of their race. The vast majority of employers have an equal opportunities policy that workers have to sign before they start work. The Race Relations Act 1976 makes it unlawful for there to be discrimination present against anyone on grounds of there race, colour, nationality , or ethnic or national origin. This act applies to jobs, training, housing, education and the provision of goods, facilities and services(Race Relations Act 1976 and Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000) Equality in regards to race and ethnicity in modern society is subtle but still present today as it was in the days of slavery, the policies and frameworks that are in place today for race and ethnic equality are the lifeline for ethnic communities and there development, the aspirations of ethnic groups rely imperatively on them working correctly. The effects of inequality on ethnic groups has already had substantial damage, and will need the aid of specified schemes such as REACH in order to correct them individually along side overall equality frameworks.

Chaucers the House Of Fame: The Cultural Nature Of Fame :: essays research papers

Chaucer's "The House of Fame": The Cultural Nature of Fame QUESTION 7. DISCUSS THE CULTURAL NATURE OF FAME AND ITS TEXTUAL EXPRESSION WITH REFERENCE TO ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING: ORAL HEROIC POETRY, CHAUCER'S DEPICTION IN THE HOUSE OF FAME AND THE MODERN CONSTRUCTION OF THE CANON OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. YOU SHOULD FOCUS YOUR ANALYSIS ON THE INTERPLAY OF ORAL AND LITERARY TRADITIONS IN THESE CONTEXTS. Many critics have noted the complexities within Chaucer's The House of Fame, in particular, the complexities between the oral and the literary. The differences between these methods are constantly appearing; Chaucer is well aware of rapidly changing communicative practises and contrasts the preservation of utterance with the longevity of literary texts. He achieves this by discussing the nature of "Fame" and the difficulties that arise from it. "Fame" can both destroy and create. It can result in the eternal preservation of great works and their creators. However, Chaucer is quick to note the precarious nature of "fame" noting the unreliable process of attaining it and its potentially momentary existence. Every creator with their respective work/s naturally crave and desire "fame"; they want their subjects to remain fresh in the minds of their audience. Chaucer, while neither totally praising the written nor the oral, reveals how essentially the written word is far more likely to become eternal as opposed to the oral. The relative "fame" of any work is dependent on many factors. Many traditional and classical ideas result in the formation of the English canon, yet as Chaucer indicates, the "fame" of these works can easily become annihilated. The arrival of new readers with different ideals and thereby changing tradition, can reject classical or "canonical" work and their "fame" will melt into nothingness. Most stories, histories and legends that emerge from oral heroic poetry are to herald the achievement of the powerful and wealthy so that their histories will not fade from the memories of the population. The stories of Beowolf are a clear example of this, as within these stories, (whether embellished or no), Beowolf's fame and legend reaches the modern reader hundreds of years later. Clearly, Beowolf is still very much dependant on the conventions of oral traditions and written to leave a permanent reminder of Beowolf, to enforce Beowolf's fame. The use of "Hwaet" to mark the start of an oration, emphasises the continuation of oral tradition. Most oral cultures (usually illiterate), pass on stories and legends learnt from the previous generation, basically using the authority of recalled memory, not as an actual witness; rather 'I have heard it said` than 'I know this to be true`.

John Dalton :: essays research papers fc

John Dalton John Dalton was born on September 6 1766 at Eagelsfield, Cumbria in England.Although he was born in England, he spent most of his life in Manchester.He was born into a Quaker family and while his family had food, they were still poor. His father Joseph was a weaver and John recieved most of his early education from his father. At the age of 12, John opened a school in Eagelsfield where he was the master. He was often threatened by the older boys who wanted to fight him because he was smarter, but he managed to keep in control for 2 years.Due to a poor salary, John was forced to leave his school and work in the fields with his brother. In 1781 John and his brother moved to Kendall. There John, his cousin George, and his brother ran a school where they offered English,Latin,Greek,French and twenty one mathematics and science course. Their school had sixty pupils. After twelve years at Kendall John started doing lectures and answering questions for mens magazines. John found a mentor in John Gough,who was the blind son of a wealthy tradesman. John Gough taught Dalton languages,mathematics,and optics. In 1973 John moved to Manchester as a tutor at New College. He immediately joined the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society and in the same year he published his first book: Meteorological Observations and Essays. In his book Dalton stated that gas exits and acts independantly and purely physically not chemically. After six years of tutoring, John resigned to conduct private research while still doing tutoring at 2 shillings a lesson. In 1802 John stated his law of partial pressures. When two elastic fluids are mixed together ( A and B) they dont repel each other. A particles do not repel B particles but a B particle will repel another B particle. One of his experiments involved the addition of water vapor to dry air. The increase in pressure was the same as the pressure of the added water. By doing this experiment, John established a relationship between vapo r pressure and temperature. John’s interest in gases arose from his studies of meteorology. He had weather equipment that was with him at all times and he was constantly studying weather and atmosphere. He also kept a journal throughout his life in which he wrote over 200,000 observations. In 1803, John made his biggest contribution to science: The Atomic Theory.

Discuss the view that Tony Lumpkin is nothing more than a comic country bumpkin

Traditionally the pastoral genre celebrates the virtues of simple, unsophisticated life far from the city or court, in which the population is stereotyped as unintelligent and fatuitous. Tony is characterised as jovial and carefree through language and form. He is uninhibited and is interested in ‘fun going forward’ without being diverted by any sense of commitment, ‘mother, I cannot stay’, which mirrors the unpredictability of nature and country. Through characterisation, Goldsmith uses Tony’s character as a symbol for the simple, idyllic country life where drinking, enjoyment and singing are paramount. Although Goldsmith challenges this stereotype of the rural population through the character of Tony throughout She Stoops to Conquer and subsequently illuminates the theme of opinion vs. reality. Goldsmith’s nominalisation of Tony Lumpkin initially presents his character as stereotypic of a simple country dweller. ‘Lumpkin’ could be a subtle indication of Tony’s figure. Lump’ suggests that Tony is a stout man, which reflects his uninhibited lifestyle lead in the country; relaxing and singing songs in the Three Pigeons, ‘toroddle, toroddle, toroll’. This mirrors Third Century idealised pastoral life in which shepherds and shepherdesses enjoyed a life of blissful ease, thus presenting Tony as an unsophisticated character who lacks the refinement of a man of the town ‘br ed a scholar’. Moreover, Lumpkin is similar to the word ‘bumpkin’ which is a derogatory term for a simple rustic, further implying Tony’s lack of grace. Goldsmith enhances this depiction of Tony’s carefree lifestyle through the setting of the alehouse. ‘Several shabby fellows’ are identified in this setting which reflects the lower social class facet of society which Tony associates with, the adjective ‘shabby’ suggests that this is a relatively impoverished group of local country dwellers who, like Tony, are content with drinking ‘punch’ and smoking ‘tobacco’. The song sung in said alehouse by Tony perpetuates the fact that he lives the unprosperous life of a country bumpkin. The words ‘nonsense’ and ‘learning’ are juxtaposed in the lyrics to show Tony is uninterested in education, and furthermore that he is a lazy and unambitious character; which is how country folk are presented to behave in the pastoral genre. Nonetheless, Goldsmith establishes Tony’s character as much more than this, as he is able to deceive the town folk into believing Hardcastle’s home is ‘an inn. ’ Tony’s deception is also rather profound as he diverts Marlow and Hastings from the ‘long, dark, boggy’ road which they intended to travel. The numerous adjectives listed shows Tony as a rather manipulative character with more intelligence than was first shown, which is an anti-pastoral presentation of Tony considering country folk were thought to be kind and welcoming. Through this Goldsmith challenges the stereotypes of the country, as Tony, a supposed country bumpkin is able to mislead the town folk with supposed ‘excellent understanding’. This farce encompasses the themes of appearances and stereotypes into the plot and undermines the simplicity of Tony’s character. Goldsmith parallels Tony with the servants and doric characters like Diggory, which the country hosts. The poor grammar of Diggory, ‘parfectly unpossible’, shows his low levels of intellect; supposedly as a result of rustic life. Goldsmith uses Tony’s language and dialect to show his similarly plain and simple life in the country. Goldsmith incorporates malapropisms into Tony’s speech which shows his limited intellect. He frequently confuses ‘genius’ with ‘genus’, which creates a humorous irony since the very word he is using incorrectly, he has used to describe himself, shown through the personal pronoun ‘my genus. ’ This creates comedy as well as reflecting to the audience Tony’s simplicity. Furthermore, Goldsmith utilises the word ‘ecod’ in Tony’s speech, which was 18th century jargon used to express mild surprise, meaning ‘oh God. ’ However Tony’s speech often encompasses this word even in situations which are not surprising or exciting, this suggests that Tony’s life in the country is lacking vivacity and therefore he must find excitement in the most sullen situations, which seldom occupy the life of a ‘bumpkin’. However, Tony often provides witty remarks which entertain the audience but also contradict the interpretation that Tony is just a ‘bumpkin. When acting as witness for the theft of Mrs Hardcastle’s ‘bobs’, Tony says ‘I’ll say I saw them taken out with my own eyes’, which is comically ironic since he ‘got them’ himself and therefore actually did see them ‘taken out’. The dramatic irony of the situation relays to the audience the c omedy and wit of Tony’s conversation. Contrarily, Mrs Hardcastle remains ignorant to the whole ruse, contrasting Tony’s aptitude for the situation, which presents him as superior and separate from the ignorance of the other country dwellers. Goldsmith embellishes this subtle superior presentation of Tony through the utilisation of stage directions. At the alehouse Tony is seated ‘a little higher than the rest’, which presents him as having relative authority over the other ‘fellows’. Furthermore, his song creates a harmony within the group and unites the men, which Goldsmith shows through the unanimous ‘hurrah’ said by ‘omnes’; Latin for ‘all’. Both devices present Tony as a figure resembling a shepherd, protective of his flock. Despite the pastoral connotations this presentation of Tony shows him to have relative power and authority, separating him from the other doric characters and thus suggesting he is more than a comic country bumpkin. Alternatively, Vicki Janik describes Tony as â€Å"the most ignorant of the country bumpkins†. Through Mrs Hardcastle, Goldsmith reveals that Tony isn’t well educated, ‘I don’t think a boy wants much learning. ’ Tony’s lack of education and structure in life; indulged by his doting mother, has resulted in his ‘consumptive figure’ and his occasional lack of awareness. Goldsmith highlights Tony’s flawed character through Mrs Hardcastle’s deception of ‘concealing (his) age’ so that he may not claim his inheritance. In fact it is revealed Tony has been of age for ‘three months’, the absurdity of the situation ameliorates the comedy as well as augmenting the stupidity of Tony’s character, since he cannot even track his own age; complimenting Janik’s criticism. Moreover, considering that in Georgian England, most country dwellers were uneducated; Tony is clearly an accurate stereotype of a bumpkin. Tony’s lack of education, ‘the ale-house and the stable are the only schools he’ll ever go to’, also reflect Tony’s limited horizons which means he’s confined to his country life without hope of improvement; this is shown through Goldsmith’s use of ‘only’. Tony’s small scope of existence illuminates the simplicity of his life and that of a bumpkin. However, Goldsmith shows that Tony does have some degree of awareness of his situation, as he asks his mother ‘let me have my fortin’, demonstrating that Tony is not contented with his current finance and wishes to pursue his inheritance. This drama is recurring throughout the play which shows Tony’s determination to become financially independent and ‘be made a fool of no longer’ since currently he is only able to go to ‘the alehouse so often’ because he has ‘a key to every drawer’ of his ‘mother’s bureau’. This suggests that Tony is not merely a country bumpkin since he demonstrates a certain greed more commonly associated with the town with their ‘vanity and affectation’, therefore not all the qualities of his character conform to the stereotype of a country bumpkin. Goldsmith uses a cyclical structure to further highlight how Tony is trapped in his unambitious, mundane life. In the final lines of the play, Goldsmith identifies that Tony is ‘his own man again’, the use of the word ‘again’ reflects the lack of development in Tony’s character, nothing has improved in his country life; which could indicate the stability and continuity of the uncorrupted country or alternatively it could illuminate Tony’s lack of ambition for self-improvement to embellish his simple nature. This presentation of Tony as a simple, undeveloped character reaches a climax at the end of the play as Goldsmith contrasts Tony from the country and Marlow from the town. Through stage directions, ‘joining their hands’, Goldsmith shows that Marlow has been able to overcome his ‘trembling’ when talking to ladies of high society, through his romance with Kate, whereas Tony, as afore mentioned, remains the same suggesting he is a country bumpkin unable to develop due to his indulged rural existence. Nonetheless, Goldsmith presents Tony’s character as having a level of moral complexity through his relationship with his cousin, Constance. Tony refers to Constance as cousin Con, the shortened version of her name acts as endearment and the indication to the familial relationship shows how Tony is caring and ‘a good natured creature at bottom’. Furthermore, Tony helps his cousin retrieve her jewels; which are her ‘fortune’, so she may leave with Hastings. Tony quickly agrees to ‘clap a pair of horses to (their) chaise’, in aid. This generosity demonstrated through the plot to retrieve Constance’s jewels implies that Tony’s character may be more complex than originally believed to be. Similarly, Tony clarifies that he ‘want(s) no nearer relationship’ with his cousin and therefore Tony’s acceptance to ‘assist’ Hastings and his proposal to ‘whip (Constance) off to France’ can be interpreted as a selfish, anti-pastoral act to be rid of Constance. The rural population are seen to be welcoming and sympathetic, rather than narcissistic and under-handed which is how Goldsmith characterises Tony through the nature of this plot, which suggests that Tony is in fact the complete polar opposite of a country bumpkin. Despite the comedic trait of Tony’s character being indisputable, seeing as he is usually at the heart of the farce in this play. Throughout She Stoops to Conquer, Goldsmith clearly opposes the stereotypes of the country folk through the character of Tony Lumpkin. Initially, Tony is seemingly rather plain and peaceful; mimetic of the country, but his character develops throughout the play into a more complicated personality, so much more than a country bumpkin.

Why We Sleep

WHY WE SLEEP The Functions of Sleep in Humans and Other Mammals J. A. Horne Published by Oxford University Press 1988 Contents CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1. 1Early Sleep Theories 1. 2Daily Sleep and Wakefulness 1. 3Measuring Sleep References CHAPTER 2 Sleep Deprivation 2. 1Problems with Animal Experiments 2. 2Recent Animal Experiments 2. 3Some Problems with Human Experiments 2. 41896 – The First Real Sleep Deprivation Experiment on Humans 2. 5The Longest Study – 264 hours Without Sleep 2. 6Abnormal 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. 12Spare Cerebral Capacity 2. 13Performance Measures 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 Deprivat ion Effects be Sped Up or Slowed Down ? 2. 19Do Long and Short Sleepers Differ in Their Recovery 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 Next Fifty Years 3. 3Body Restitution and Sleep 3. 4Effects on Exercise 3. 5The Control of Body Temperature (Thermoregulation) 3. 6Other Aspects of Homeostasis 3. 7Update on Hormone Changes 3. 8The Immune System 3. 9Conclusions about 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 Acti vity and Sleep – Body Versus Brain Restitution 4. 10The Effects of Exercise on Sleep – Background 4. 11Is Body Heating the Key ? 4. 12Conclusions References CHAPTER 5 Waking Awareness, Subsequent Sleep, and Cerebral â€Å"Restitution† 5. 1Background 5. 2Influences of Wakefulness on Subsequent Sleep 5. SWS Changes over the Night, and â€Å"Models† of SWS 5. 4Brain Work During Wakefulness 5. 5Increased Awareness 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 â€Å"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 C ircadian 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 saving 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 REM Sleep 8. 1Perspectives on Dreaming 8. 2Memory, Homeostatic, Sentinel, and Motivational Theories 8. 3Abundance of REM Sleep in Early Life – The Ontogenetic Hypothesis 8. 4Sleep After Increased Learning 8. 5REM Sleep Deprivation in Animals – Background 8. 6REM Sleep Deprivation, Learning and Drive Behaviour 8. 7REM Sleep Deprivation in Humans 8. 8Brain Protein Synthesis and Related Findings 8. 9Conclusions so Far 8. 10Similarities between REM Sleep and Wakefulness 8. 11Keeping Cool 8. 12Keeping Warm 8. 13Increased Heat Production without Shivering . 14Thermoregulation in REM Sleep Reverts to the Foetal Level 8. 15Conclusions About REM Sleep References EPILOGUE Why Do We Sleep ? CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This is a book about the purpose of sleep in mammals, particularly in humans. My approach has been to take a broad biological perspective, looking at sleep in relation to the natural lifestyles and behaviour of mammals, and making what I hope is a series of informed opinions about what sleep means to them, and especially to us. Of course, I do not have the answer to why we sleep, as too much is still unknown.What I have attempted to do is clear away many misconceptions and try and make some sense of what is left. This book is not meant to be a comprehensive text on sleep, but a selective and personal account giving several hypotheses about a variety of aspects on sleep. Many of my conclusions may well turn out t o be wrong, as that is the way of most theories. However, I hope that before they fail they prove to be of use in stimulating other ideas. I have tried to make the book readable, and present my case within an unfurling story about sleep.Technicalities have been kept to a minimum, although at times, and of necessity, it goes into some detail. Wherever possible, I have tried to make it understandable, as the book is aimed not only at sleep researchers, but at a readership having more of a passing interest in sleep, with only a basic background in biology and psychology. Little coverage is given to the brain's neurophysiological and neurochemical mechanisms regulating sleep. Whilst they help explain how sleep occurs, the fundamental questions about what they are doing there in the first place, that is the function of sleep, still have to be answered.Besides, there are already excellent texts describing these mechanisms (e. g. ref. 1). Many people feel that, despite fifty years of resea rch, all we can conclude about the function of sleep is that it overcomes sleepiness, and that the only reliable finding from sleep deprivation experiments is that sleep loss makes us sleepy. Such a forlorn outlook has been partly responsible for many 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 far better in the area of sleep disorders, and there is the satisfaction of being able to help or cure many patients. Numerous Sleep Disorders Centres have been established in the United States and Europe over the last decade (alas, not in the UK), and this is by far the greatest growth area in sleep research. Whilst it could rightly be argued that sleep disorders is a far more worthwhile area for sleep research, unfortunately, like the neurophysiological mechanisms of sleep, it still does not tell us much about why we sleep.Certainly, it has prov ided valuable information 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 little 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 dead-end in our understanding about the functions of sleep, but rather, that we may have taken too much for granted.As will be seen, this topic is still an unknown and exciting entity, with many 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. Most couch the purpose of sleep in terms of rest and recovery from the â€Å"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 â€Å"worse for wear† without sleep, and so much better a fter sleep. Nevertheless it is a vague idea – what exactly 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 example, by the popular press (â€Å"you must get your beauty sleep†), and by many GPs. Asking a patient â€Å"how are you sleeping ? â€Å", may only be a stock phrase for helping the GP to establish rapport, but it still emphasises the need for a â€Å"good night's sleep†. The key symptom of insuffient or disturbed sleep is excessive sleepiness in the daytime.But many insomniacs do not experience this, and a major concern is about â€Å"not getting enough sleep†, and what may happen to their health as a consequence. However, we probably do not really need the last few hours of a typical night's sleep, and sleep loss is far less harmful than most would think. Most of the theor ies about the function of sleep concentrate on dreams or dreaming sleep, nowadays called â€Å"rapid eye movement† sleep (REM sleep). Few look at the remaining 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 large 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 â€Å"non-REM† sleep, by describing it in terms of an absence of REM sleep, not only debases the majority of sleep, but overlooks what may losely be described as the â€Å"deeper† part of non-REM sleep, called â€Å"slow 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 â€Å"good† for us, there is concern if it is dimimished. For example, if a sleeping tablet leaves REM sleep unchanged, or even increases it, then 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 extent.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 body. Rightly or wrongly so, the old idea of â€Å"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 examp le, whereas sleep may well provide generalised body tissue repair for the mouse, it is unlikely 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 largely be some form of substitute for wakefulness, keeping the brain stimulated without having to awaken the sleeper. Perhaps dreams themselves are just a â€Å"cinema of the mind† – the brain's 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 distinct 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 another to promote a variety of functions, even though one type of sleep may be associated more with one function than another. The last three paragraphs are introductions to most of t he key themes of this book, which are developed 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 themes is given in the last chapter, â€Å"Why Do We Sleep†, and the reader might like to take a preview of it. 1. 1 Early Sleep Theories Apart 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 two thousand years ago, and considered that sleep resulted from warm vapours rising from within the stomach: â€Å"The evaporation attendant upon the proc ess of nutrition .. naturally tends to move upward. This explains why fits of drowsiness are especially apt to come after meals. It also follows certain forms of fatigue; for fatigue operates as a solvent, and the dissolved (warm) matter acts like food 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 caused by the â€Å"congestion of the brain† by blood. This contrasted with another popular theory at the time, of â€Å"cerebral anaemia†, due to blood being drawn away from the brain and diverted elsewhere in the body, especially to the gut. Such ideas even led to opposing beliefs about how to induce â€Å"better† sleep. Some propounded sleeping without pillows to encourage blood flow 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 animal will fall asleep. To some extent this notion is true, 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 avoid fatigue occurring – â€Å"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 interesting idea 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 undergo complex processes which allow the body to live, g row, and repair itself.The beginning of the 20th century also produced many of what are termed â€Å"humoral† theories, whereby various sleep inducing substances accumulated in the brain. These ranged from known chemicals like lactic acid, carbon dioxide and cholesterol, to the vaguely described â€Å"leucomaines† and â€Å"urotoxins†. Nevertheless, by 1907 some headway began to be made when two French researchers, Drs Rene Legendre and Henri Pieron, claimed to have obtained a substance they called â€Å"hypnotoxin† from sleep deprived animals. 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 â€Å"sleep substances† (see Section 5. 12). In those interim years most of the excitement came from advances in neurophysiology that could be relat ed to sleep, and a spate of different neural â€Å"inhibition† theories for sleep appeared. Many had had their early impetus from Pavlov's views on â€Å"cortical inhibition† – that sleep originated from a form of blocking within the cerebral hemispheres.Although Pavlov vehemently dismissed the alternative, of sleep inducing â€Å"centres† in more basic parts of the brain below the 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 wakefulnes s, and come under the heading of â€Å"restorative† theories. In contrast, there are alternatives that reject this standpoint and claim that sleep is non-restorative – simply a form of instinct or â€Å"non-behaviour† for keeping us, as well as other mammals, out of harm's way, and occupying the otherwise tedious and unproductive hours of darkness. Through this immobility, sleep will also prevent any waste of energy through needlessly moving about.Hence sleep is often seen as an â€Å"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 small 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 oppos ite 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 size, 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 night's sleep progresses, initially serving more important purposes, then 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 â€Å"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 measured. 1. 2 Daily Sleep and Wakefulness The lives of all mammals are very much influenced by internal biological clocks 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 the other hand, it is possible that both are part of some less well underst ood â€Å"masterclock†. However, assuming there to be two clocks, it seems that neither runs precisely at 24 hours, and the term â€Å"circadian†, from the latin circa diem (â€Å"about a day†) has been adopted to describe them.Human circadian rhythms are inclined to run a little slower 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 â€Å"zeitgeibers†, a german word losely translated as â€Å"time giver†. For many mammals sunrise 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 â€Å"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, som ehow use other regular cues such as mealtimes, and perhaps morning wakening by an alarm clock. Under normal everyday conditions our internal clocks are linked together, with body temperature and most physiological activities increasing during wakefulness and declining during sleep. This is not simply an effect of different levels of physical activity.For example, if sleep is lost 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 form of  "jet lag†, 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 wakefulnes s 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 working 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 posture 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 eyes shut, 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 thi s is particularly obvious in its electrical activity. Concentrating on the brain in this way is appropriate in other respects, as not only does it contain the control mechanisms of sleep, but of all the body's 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 connected 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 signals amplified by a machine similar to that used for animals. Such amplifiers are technically very sophisticated as they have to boost the brain's 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 â€Å"encephalon†) surrounding the rest of the brain like the canopy of a mushroom around 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 â€Å"electroencephalography† (EEG for short) is used to describe this technique of scalp recording. The paper write-out is called an â€Å"electroencephalogram† (also called the EEG), and the machine containing the amplifiers and pens, as an â€Å"electroencephalograph†. When electrodes are placed in the cortex itself, as with animals, the electrical activity shou ld strictly be called he â€Å"electrocorticogram† (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 (â€Å"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 going 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 â€Å"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 â€Å"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 peak 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. FREQUENCY: The number of complete waves or cycles occurring in one second, and expressed as â€Å"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 â€Å"fast waves†, and frequencies of under about 3. 5 hz are à ¢â‚¬Å"slow waves† – these are the waves of slow wave sleep (SWS). Whereas amplitude rises as sleep deepens, frequency falls. With the very advanced mammals, 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 going 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 freq uency, of under 3. 5 hz. They are of a high amplitude, often over 100 uV, and increase in appearance as sleep becomes â€Å"deeper†.There are some other, more transient EEG activities found only during sleep, such as â€Å"vertex sharp waves† occuring with theta activity at sleep onset, and spindles and â€Å"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 â€Å"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 transition 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 often some vertex sharp waves. There is also much â€Å"eye rolling†, as the eyelids slowly open 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 à ¢â‚¬Å"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 that species (8). The larger 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, also apparent to some extent in stage 3 sleep. Stages 3 and 4 together are â€Å"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 half-minute of sleep is broken down into the sleep stages, and the results can be plotted out as a â€Å"hypnogram†. A simplified version is seen in Figure 2, and shows certain key features of sleep: ) A rapid descent to stage 4 sleep soon after sleep onset. 2) A regular 90 minute cycling of REM sleep and other stages. 3) The p revalence of stages 3 and 4 sleep (SWS) in the first cycle, less in the second cycle, and only some stage 3 sleep in the third 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 â€Å"hypnogram† of sleep stage 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 Standardised Terminology, Techniques and Criteria for Scoring States of Sleep and Wakefulness in the Newborn Infan t.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, 195 – 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 deprivation, 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 anim al 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 nothing harmful will be allowed to happen to them. However, none 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 4 °C, and there was a drop in the number of red blood cells.Autopsies revealed many small haemorrhages 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 Manaceine's 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 sl eep 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. Over 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 â€Å"father† of sleep research. His great work, â€Å"Sleep and Wakefulness† (1), was for many years the textbook on sleep.In Kleitman's early experiments, puppies were kept awake for 2-7 days, by groups of assistants walking or playing with the animals. This technique was successful 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 vi tal functions.The only real finding was a confirmation of the earlier 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 preparing the brains for analysis were crude by today's 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 slight 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 gland, 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 sim ply 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 plus sleep deprivation. To some extent the influence of the physical activity alone could be â€Å"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 using the limited and rather crude methods for determining an animal's 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 determine the least amount of sleep that laboratory rats could survive 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 Bunch's surprise, the four hour group seemed to survive â€Å"indefinitely†. The only finding of note was that these animals were extremely irritable and had to be handled with caution. Licklider and Bunch's next experiment, their major one, now looked in more detail at the effects of four hours sleep per day, but 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, suffice 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 c ontrol 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 using EEG methods also pair together sleep 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 certai nly 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 earlier 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 cha nges 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 â€Å"epinephrine†) is the main hormone produced in the core of the adrenals, the â€Å"medulla†, whereas the corticosteroids come from the outer layer, the â€Å"cortex†. Hence the more correct term for these latter hormones is the â€Å"adrenocorticosteroids†. Cortisol helps the body withstand stress by protecting various tissues against excess damage, for example, by reducing 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 an y 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 mammal's 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 gland can soon grow in size to produce more of the hormone. Eventually though, the gland becomes exhausted and the animal's 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 â€Å"fight or flight† response, designed to help the animal quickly avoid the danger one w ay 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, resistance and exhaustion (3), with the last one not usually occurring until many days have elapsed. Although Selye's interpretation is now thought to be too-simple an explanation 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 stimu li 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. All an Rechtschaffen, and still under his direction. Kleitman was also at Chicago University, but in another Department. He retired soon after Rechtschaffen's arrival, and his sleep laboratory closed down. Rechtschaffen's 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 sleep deprivation, and (ii) deprivation of REM sleep only. For each of these there were impressive control procedures using control animals. The centrepiece of this laboratory's equipment was the apparatus for sleep deprivation – a horizontal, circular rotating platform 45 centimeters in diameter, surrounded by shallow water. A vertical barrier divided the platform into halves, allowing a sleep deprived animal to be confined to one side, and a control ani mal to the other.The platform could rotate 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 sle ep 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 â€Å"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 types 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. Total sleep deprivation caused general debility, weight loss and death 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. Examinatio ns 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 death 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 experimental 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 â€Å"stress† still have an answer?There were no noticable differen ces 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 hormone (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 (norepinephri ne) 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 â€Å"brown adipose tissue† (BAT or â€Å"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 inc reases 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 body 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 deterioration, 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, o r 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 large 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 und er 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 highly complex area (see Section 3. 8), and only a few tests 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 deprivation 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, be cause 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 generate heat in proportion to 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 exposed body areas, the paws, and especially the large tail. Physio logically, blood flow to the skin is reduced here, and behaviourally, the animal can sit on its tail, or curl 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 â€Å"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 pr otect 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 totall y 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 levels, 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 al low 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