Metropol

cat wrote:

DAS wrote:A collection of cells that interact with both endogenous and exogeneous prompts to regulate, for instance, circadian rhythms like the wake/sleep cyle. Which is roughly 25 hours rather that 24.

I don't care if you're not interested, I had to get some if it out of me. Thank you.

Does this mean I can be awake for 24 hours, then asleep for 24 hours?

And what is a circadian rhythm?

Essentially, the human body is a collection of rhythms and cycles. Breathing, menstruation, stages of sleep, and the most obvious - wake/sleep. The wake/sleep cycle is a roughly 24 hour cycle, and this is described by the word "circadian" in order to confuse people who haven't studied it (the sleep cycle is "infradian" because it lasts shorter than 24 hours). Over this 24 hour period, the body wakes and sleeps. Which is pretty convenient since the day is 24 hours long.

The suprachiasmatic nucleus is the body's clock, and it reacts to internal and external factors. Interestingly, if you remove external factors that trigger sleep (such as light to give you an idea what time it is), the body seems to peter out the rhythm to 25 hours. Lots of experiments have shown this - even though a day is 24 hours, and the sleep/wake cycle is made to fit this 24 hours, the "natural" cycle is an hour longer. They've shoved people down caves just to illustrate this point.

In conclusion. No, you can't be awake for 24 hours. They've also done studies to show how long you can stay awake, and what happens when you do - but I haven't got to that bit yet.

"Should COPD patients be routinely monitored for bone mineral density?"

That's my current problem. Or a concise version, at least. I resent having to write an answer to a problem for which the question and instructions stretch to nineteen pages.

Of course, it seemed like a much more simple topic to write about when I submitted my proposal, now I have to actually write the thing, it's a bit more tricky...

I'm yet to be taught how to skin a live cat.

Thank you for the explanation, DAS. I still don't understand, but that counts for nothing.

tillyoshea wrote: Of course, it seemed like a much more simple topic to write about when I submitted my proposal, now I have to actually write the thing, it's a bit more tricky...

Isn't this always the case?

You pick a subject that sounds so obvious, and is bound to have tonnes of research done on it, then realise that actually there's nothing... and that you have to have it in by Tuesday, and it's now Sunday, and you've still got about 2000 words left to do and you just want to cry?

Back to work, I think.

cat wrote:

tillyoshea wrote:Of course, it seemed like a much more simple topic to write about when I submitted my proposal, now I have to actually write the thing, it's a bit more tricky...

Isn't this always the case?

You pick a subject that sounds so obvious, and is bound to have tonnes of research done on it, then realise that actually there's nothing... and that you have to have it in by Tuesday, and it's now Sunday, and you've still got about 2000 words left to do and you just want to cry?

Back to work, I think.

Replace 'Tuesday' with 'Monday', and '2000' with '3500', and you're there. Eek.

Replace Tuesday/Monday with Thursday and 2000/3500 with 1500 and....ok you two win!

Of course, rather than doing work this afternoon, I've been shopping.

Silly me!

I went to the Clapham Steam Fair - I feared for my life more than once.