Nocturnal

Every year on the 27th of Rajab, Muslims around the world commemorate the event called Al-Isra` and al-Mi'raj, the Prophet(SAW) 's night journey from Mecca to al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem from where he embarked on the second leg of the journey heavenwards.

There are different versions of this journey. Some say that both the events happened in a dream, while others are of the opinion that both of these took place in the waking state and the Prophet(SAW) physically went on the journey, and some say that it was merely a mystic vision shown to him.

The analysis of the author suggests that Al-Isra could have been a bodily experience. Technically, with a little lift from Jibraeel(AS) , who can travel at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second), it was possible for the Prophet(SAW) to physically travel to Jerusalem and return to Mecca in less than five minutes.

Al-Miraj, on the other hand, could not have been a bodily or mystical experience. It could not even be a dream. It fits the core elements of a superlative form of out of body experience (OBE), which is beyond imagination. The state he was in was very conducive to trigger such an OBE. While the body stayed where he was sleeping, his conscience (soul) saw things which fits the pattern of an OBE e.g. looking at what Jibraeel(AS) was doing with his body, passing through a huge space (heaven), meeting the dead (some of the Prophets), and seeing a bright light and the paradise.

AIM: To estimate the prevalence of enuresis in school-age children in Iran and determine associated factors.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 7562 children, aged 5-18 years, enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Using a standard questionnaire, data on demographic characteristics, and familial and physical conditions were obtained from the parents by interview. The ICD-10 definition of enuresis was used. In the case of enuretics, a detailed history was taken, and physical and ultrasonographic examinations, urinalysis and urine culture were performed.
RESULTS: The overall prevalence of enuresis was 6.8%. A significant relationship was found between the prevalence of enuresis and age (P=0.001), educational level of parents (P=0.001), number of family members (P=0.028), positive family history of enuresis (P=0.001), parenting methods (P=0.001), and deep sleep (P=0.001). Birth weight (P=0.07), monthly income (P=0.322), employment status of parents (P=0.08), ethnic differences (P=0.09), delayed development (P=0.062), drinking (P=0.072) or urination habit before sleep (P=0.06), and stool incontinence (P=0.062) were not significantly associated with enuresis. Prevalence of urinary tract pathology was 2.9% in enuretics.
CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a quantitative estimate of the prevalence and main risk factors for enuresis in Iranian children.

Echolocation has evolved independently in several vertebrate groups, and hypotheses about the origin of echolocation in these groups often invoke abiotic mechanisms driving morphological evolution. In bats, for example, the ecological setting associated with the origin of echolocation has been linked to global warming during the Palaeocene–Eocene; similarly, the origin of toothed whales (odontocetes) has been broadly correlated with the establishment of the circum-Antarctic current. These scenarios, and the adaptational hypotheses for the evolution of echolocation with which they are associated, neglect a consideration of possible biotic mechanisms. Here we propose that the origin of echolocation in odontocetes was initially an adaptation for nocturnal epipelagic feeding – primarily on diel migrating cephalopods. We test this hypothesis using data on the temporal, geographical, and water column distributions of odontocetes and cephalopods, and other global events from their respective tertiary histories. From this analysis, we suggest that echolocation in early odontocetes aided nocturnal feeding on cephalopods and other prey items, and that this early system was exapted for deep diving and hunting at depths below the photic zone where abundant cephalopod resources were available 24 h a day. This scenario extends to the evolution of other cephalopod feeding (teuthophagous) marine vertebrates such as pinnipeds and Mesozoic marine reptiles.

To understand the impact of nocturnal and daytime non-severe hypoglycemic events on healthcare systems, work productivity and quality of life in people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. People with diabetes who experienced a non-severe hypoglycemic event in the 4 weeks prior to the survey were eligible to participate in a nocturnal and/or daytime hypoglycemia survey. Surveys were conducted in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Israel, Mexico and South Africa. In total, 300 respondents were included in nocturnal/daytime hypoglycemia surveys (50/participating country/survey). All respondents with type 1 diabetes and 68%/62% (nocturnal/daytime) with type 2 diabetes were on insulin treatment. After an event, 25%/30% (nocturnal/daytime) of respondents decreased their insulin dose and 39%/36% (nocturnal/daytime) contacted a healthcare professional. In the week after an event, respondents performed an average of 5.6/6.4 (nocturnal/daytime) additional blood glucose tests. Almost half of the respondents (44%) reported that the event had a high impact on the quality of their sleep. Among nocturnal survey respondents working for pay, 29% went to work late, 16% left work early and 12% reported missing one or more full work days due to the surveyed event. In addition, 50%/39% (nocturnal/daytime) indicated that the event had a high impact on their fear of future hypoglycemia. The findings suggest that nocturnal and daytime non-severe hypoglycemic events have a large financial and psychosocial impact. Diabetes management that minimizes hypoglycemia while maintaining good glycemic control may positively impact upon the psychological wellbeing of people with diabetes, as well as reducing healthcare costs and increasing work productivity.

A theory for gentle but persistent mesoscale ascent in the lower troposphere is developed in which the vertical motion arises as an inertia–gravity wave response to the sudden decrease of turbulent mixing in a horizontally heterogeneous convective boundary layer (CBL). The zone of ascent is centered on the local maximum of a laterally varying buoyancy field (warm tongue in the CBL). The shutdown also triggers a Blackadar-type inertial oscillation and associated low-level jet (LLJ). These nocturnal motions are studied analytically using the linearized two-dimensional Boussinesq equations of motion, thermal energy, and mass conservation for an inviscid stably stratified fluid, with the initial state described by a zero-order jump model of a CBL. The vertical velocity revealed by the analytical solution increases with the amplitude of the buoyancy variation, CBL depth, and wavenumber of the buoyancy variation (larger vertical velocity for smaller-scale variations). Stable stratificatio...

Echolocation has evolved independently in several vertebrate groups, and hypotheses about the origin of echolocation in these groups often invoke abiotic mechanisms driving morphological evolution. In bats, for example, the ecological setting associated with the origin of echolocation has been linked to global warming during the Palaeocene–Eocene; similarly, the origin of toothed whales (odontocetes) has been broadly correlated with the establishment of the circum-Antarctic current. These scenarios, and the adaptational hypotheses for the evolution of echolocation with which they are associated, neglect a consideration of possible biotic mechanisms. Here we propose that the origin of echolocation in odontocetes was initially an adaptation for nocturnal epipelagic feeding – primarily on diel migrating cephalopods. We test this hypothesis using data on the temporal, geographical, and water column distributions of odontocetes and cephalopods, and other global events from their respective tertiary histories. From this analysis, we suggest that echolocation in early odontocetes aided nocturnal feeding on cephalopods and other prey items, and that this early system was exapted for deep diving and hunting at depths below the photic zone where abundant cephalopod resources were available 24 h a day. This scenario extends to the evolution of other cephalopod feeding (teuthophagous) marine vertebrates such as pinnipeds and Mesozoic marine reptiles.

It has been fashionable to consider the physiology and behavior of birds more advanced than those of reptiles but less well developed than the mammalian norm. Birds, however, are more recent than mammals and of an independent lineage. The last common ancestor to birds and mammals died some 250 million years ago, when even the reptiles  were recent, so that they are each more closely related to the reptiles than to each other. Even though birds and mammals share similar types of sleep, these probably arose independently and have evolved and survived inde­pendently for tens of millions of years and were acquired most recently by birds. In this chapter, we specifically examine avian sleep and consider which sleep characteristics encourage birds to invest a  third of their lives in such apparently unresponsive, unre­warding, physiologically distinct states.

Este artigo se dedica ao estudo da iluminação urbana por meio do entendimento da experiência noturna que se desdobra no espaço público e à construção metodológica de análise desta experiência. Parte-se do entendimento que no contexto atual a iluminação urbana tem sido questionada por questões mais sustentáveis e pela aproximação às dimensões mais sensíveis da noite, assim, entende-se como necessário a busca por novas ferramentas de análise que possam abranger as particularidades do que é vivenciado à noite. Como metodologia, organizou-se este artigo em duas partes, a primeira destinada ao entendimento de conceitos relacionados à experiência que se desdobra no espaço público e suas especificidades noturnas. A segunda se refere à construção metodológica baseada na observação empírica da experiência. Esta parte se desdobra em dois aspectos, de um lado tem-se a descrição da luz e suas reverberações no ambiente construído; por outro lado, tem-se a observação dos gestos e das práticas dos sujeitos. Desta forma, como objetivo, pretende-se abranger a pluralidade da dimensão noturna da cidade, buscando novos métodos que permitam uma leitura espacial da experiência noturna, assim como, desvios de concepções já formatadas em relação às luzes e à escuridão que a compõem.

Hypnic headache is a rare form of primary headache with attacks occurring exclusively with sleep. As it is typical of the elderly, a wide range of alternative diagnosis must be considered. We present a case report of a 54-year-old woman with unsuspected secondary hypnic headache that was relieved by anti-hypertensive therapy. We reviewed the literature to evaluate the usual diagnostic workup performed in hypnic headache patients. We suggest that 24 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring may be included in the evaluation of nocturnal headache complaints especially in the elderly, in whom essential hypertension is a very frequent comorbidity.

This study examined the effects of endurance exercise on nocturnal autonomic modulation. Nocturnal R-R intervals were collected after a rest day, after a moderate endurance exercise and after a marathon run in ten healthy, physically active men. Heart rate variability (HRV) was analyzed as a continuous four-hour period starting 30 min after going to bed for sleep. In relation to average nocturnal heart rate after rest day, increases to 109+/-6% and 130+/-11% of baseline were found after moderate endurance exercise and marathon, respectively. Standard deviation of R-R intervals decreased to 90+/-9% and 64+/-10%, root-mean-square of differences between adjacent R-R intervals to 87+/-10% and 55+/-16%, and high frequency power to 77+/-19% and 34+/-19% of baseline after moderate endurance exercise and marathon, respectively. Also nocturnal low frequency power decreased to 56+/-26% of baseline after the marathon. Changes in nocturnal heart rate and HRV suggest prolonged dose-response effe...

Studies in a Rural General Practice: Sleep-Related Breathing Disorders (SRBD) and altered circadian blood pressure profile are related to increased cardiovascular risk. We investigated the prevalence and coincidence of both diseases in male patients from a general practice in a small community of 2500 people. Out of 409 selected patients (using a questionnaire regarding symptoms and findings of SRBD), 185 were monitored in an outpatient setting with an apnoea-screening system Mesam IV. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (Spacelabs 90207). Holter-ECG and actigraphy were also measured. Sixty patients had a Respiratory Disturbance Index (RDI) > 10. An indication for further sleep studies was seen in 40 patients; 36.5% of daytime hypertensives were "Non-Dipper", and 47.6% of normotensives were also "Non-Dipper". Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is an important symptom of SRBD, and in this investigation we noticed a large number of patients without this symptom...

We isolated 24 novel polymorphic microsatellite markers from the tawny frogmouth, a nocturnal bird endemic to Australia, which has successfully adapted to urban environments. Initially, 454 shotgun sequencing was used to identify 733 loci with primers designed. Of these, we trialled 30 in the target species of which all amplified a product of expected size. Subsequently, all 30 of these loci were screened for variation in 25 individuals, from a single population in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Twenty-eight loci were polymorphic with observed heterozygosity ranging from 0.03 to 0.96 (mean 0.58) and the number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 18 (average of 6.5); we confirmed that 24 loci conformed to Hardy–Weinberg expectations. The 24 loci identified here will be sufficient to unequivocally identify individuals and will be useful in understanding the reproductive ecology, population genetics and the gene flow amongst localities in urban environments where this bird thrives.

Juvenile and adult reef fishes often undergo migration, ontogenic habitat shifts, and nocturnal foraging movements. The orientation cues used for these behaviours are largely unknown. In this study, the use of sound as an orientation cue guiding the nocturnal movements of adult and juvenile reef fishes at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef was examined. The first experiment compared the movements

The implementation of energy- efficient artificial lighting has been accom- panied by a compelling narrative of savings in economic terms. However, this obscures significant costs to the environment, humans and non-humans. It has also led to higher levels of brightness at night. Integral to this process is the loss of nocturnal atmospheres and ambiances as access to darkness becomes further limited. We need new ways to address this ongoing extinction of experience of the nocturnal commons. Design can provide a valuable role in its ability to explore alter- natives, to speculate on new sensitizations that enable nocturnal urban ambiances to be reimagined. This paper proposes an emerging field of 'Dark Design' as advocacy for change of existing beliefs concerning artificial lighting and darkness.

To determine whether sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is associated with cardiac arrhythmia in a clinic-based population with multiple cardiovascular comorbidities and severe SDB. This was a cross-sectional analysis of 697 veterans who underwent polysomnography for suspected SDB. SDB was categorized according to the apnea hypopnea index (AHI): none (AHI<5), mild (5≥AHI<15), and moderate-severe (AHI≥15). Nocturnal cardiac arrhythmias consisted of: (1) complex ventricular ectopy, (CVE: non-sustained ventricular tachycardia, bigeminy, trigeminy, or quadrigeminy), (2) combined supraventricular tachycardia, (CST: atrial fibrillation or supraventricular tachycardia), (3) intraventricular conduction delay (ICD), (4) tachyarrhythmias (ventricular and supraventricular), and (5) any cardiac arrhythmia. Unadjusted, adjusted logistic regression, and Cochran-Armitage testing examined the association between SDB and cardiac arrhythmias. Linear regression models explored the association betw...

Human and non-human behaviours are regulated by cycles of light and dark, while many such behaviours can be detected through sound. This article asks how we might use recordings of light and sound to make the nocturnal urban environment meaningfully legible as a more-than-human biome. It reports on several prototypal methods that bring together art/design practices and fieldwork techniques. The aim of this ongoing work is to raise awareness of the night as an ecology, communicate the multiple temporalities characteristic of a healthy biome and provide tools that can inform responsible urban design interventions that improve the quality of the night from a more-than-human perspective.