#egg should be eeg

[echoing-msbristi]

Egg

Egg:

Introduction of egg:

Egg sounds funny we should call it eeg

[xrphansrevival]

Crack the eggs

[any odd terms/acronyms will be explained more after the drabble. You can control+F to find the stuff with asterisks *]

Many smaller skills go into espionage. It isn’t just about being sneaky and wearing masks, it isn’t all James Bond, or Kingsman, or Totally Spies. Media sensationalizes the art of espionage. Sure, some of it is accurate, but some of it is plain silly. In real life, there aren’t massive evil supervillains individually ready to destroy the whole world.

No, that’s billionaires. Whatever.

That’s not the point of this. Since Hue oh-so-kindly confiscated Quix’s jammers, he’s been working in all his spare time to rebuild. Especially now, if Hue wants the information he demands, Quix has to resort to his gadgets. Lucky for him, he’s not the only one in his class that’s interested in recreating these tech gizmos. What’s already in process cannot be exclusively pinned on him, if at all.

Throughout the past few days, in high traffic areas, Quix has been planting NNEMPs*. It’s easier to blend in. If he plugs in, say, a phone to charge, nobody will pay any mind to what he’s doing otherwise. It’s just a phone. And say, if he drops his phone, nobody is going to question him searching that area for it…

Even in a house of geniuses, people are so fucking easy. Look like you’re bumbling, and they’ll look down on you. Ignore you. Assume you can’t be up to anything because you’re not nearly as sharp or clever.

Some of these NNEMPs have been integrated with precautionary jammers*. Once the NNEMPs have been activated, the jammers with some of them will activate. It’s a safety net. If the cameras don’t get knocked out one way, they’ll get knocked out another.

Then it was about sifting through all the information Quix has on the rooms necessary for this plan to work.

Umbral always pulls his file as soon as he can, as soon as he knows it’s been replaced. But how could he possibly have this information? How does Eye know this is happening? Quix has discovered a routine in the midst of unpredictability. Probability will eventually win over unpredictability if it isn’t true. Umbral picks a ‘different’ day every month, but not really. It’s the same cluster of days. It’s always a day when Umbral should be in class.

Thankfully, it’s this week. But Quix is planning on striking first. Umbral is far more discreet, but is he really? Quix thinks he has someone in his pocket, letting him steal his records and destroy them. How else could he so consistently get away with it? Surely, first and second don’t get a pass on that when it involves other students’ information as well.

Quix is out to make an omelet. He doesn’t have time to win a staff member over. He needs the eggs.

It’s been a few days. Whisper opens their phone. All the NNEMPs appear to be in order, and they’ve snuck their way back onto part of the camera feed. The route that’s most important, along with a few distraction routes in case they’re being monitored. The blind spots are still the same as when their access was revoked. Perfect.

The act begins.

Quix does indeed have epilepsy*. Seizures can be debilitating, frustrating, maddening. Luckily for him, he does not have tonic clonic seizures, otherwise known as grand mal. Though he’s never actually faked a seizure, since they can’t EEG* him on the spot, the seizure or lack thereof will be undetectable anyway.

In the morning, he spoke to Fie and Wight about having a migraine incoming. This is part of a tell for his seizures. Most of the time, if Quix wakes up with a headache or migraine, he’ll wind up having a seizure later that day. It’s extremely infrequent since he’s medicated, but breakthroughs still happen occasionally. Fie and Wight decide to monitor him for the day.

Wight is in his psych class with Professor Obelus. A built in alibi. Halfway through class, Quix spaces out, a blank look glossing over his eyes. He’s trembling slightly. This is a red flag to his best friend. Wight stands up to alert their professor, and in that moment, Quix leans over to the side and throws up on the floor.

Obelus stares for a second. Sigh. “Take him to the infirmary. Do you need help?”

Wight shakes his head. “No, I got him.”

Some of the other students stare. Quix has trouble standing, so Wight slings his arm around him to help.

“B… bag…?” Quix appears confused, face contorted in fear. Another common trait of his seizures. Wight grabs Quix’s bag for him. They leave the classroom together. Yoriko passes them on her way to the room, ready to clean up the spill on isle four.

Wight averts his gaze. He’s still unnerved by them.

The two boys make it to the infirmary without incident. Gamma takes one look at Quix and already knows.

“Did he take his secondary medication?”

Wight frowns. “I dunno. He was drinking a lot of water, but I think he hasn’t been getting good sleep.”

“Should have taken the ubrelvy. Get him on the bed.”

Wight coaxes Quix into the little infirmary bed. He’s still shaking. “Are you cold?”

Quix nods slightly. Wight covers him with the sheet.

“Go back to class, Wight. I’ll watch him.”

There’s no point in arguing with Gamma. Wight takes his leave, setting Quix’s bag by the bed. Gamma walks over and checks out his eyes, feels for his pulse, and a few other things.

“You appear to be rattled, but I believe you won’t have another one. You may rest here for now.”

Gamma turns away from him, and Quix glances at the clock. Perfect timing.

A sudden high pitched beep screams through the orphanage. Similar to the sound of tinnitus, but much, much louder and inescapable. In a moment, the whole place goes dark. The backup generator can’t even kick on. The NNEMPs are effectively doing their jobs.

“Stay here,” Gamma warns, quickly leaving the infirmary. A patient who just suffered a seizure is typically pretty immobile.

If they actually had a seizure.

Quix waits a full minute before hopping out of bed. He doesn’t have much time to work, and he has to move quick. He pops open the Whisper phone.

The cameras necessary are down. Perfect.

He pulls a mask out of his bag and changes his hoodie. Quix slings his bag over his shoulder. Peeking out of the infirmary, no one is around. He can hear quiet chattering. Students are being advised to remain in their rooms. Quix slips away, remaining in blind spots as much as he can, in case the cameras come back up too fast.

Quix arrives at the special office where the students’ records are kept. Normally, it even has a keycode lock. It’s deactivated. With nothing to power it, how could it be armed? He walks right in. Of course there’s nobody there. Things much more important than some measly files are at stake if Wammy’s is under attack. He holds back a laugh.

It's just too fucking easy.

Isn’t it?

A chill runs down his neck. There are far too many files and cabinets for this to be only for the current students. Quix takes a quick look around.

L’s biggest cases. L’s collection of other aliases, such as Denueve. L. L. L.

“Fuck.”

Right as the door bursts open, Quix ducks under a desk. He curls up tight behind that swivel chair. He remains calm, but his heart races.

Footsteps approach. Someone looks around the room, flashlight sweeping over the different drawers.

“There’s nobody here!” A voice calls out.

“You sure?” That’s Deixis’ voice.

“Yeah, I’m sure!”

The person retreats, closing the door behind them. Quix waits another full minute. The loud, screeching sound is dying off. Either the batteries are dying or the NNEMPs are being found and deactivated. Time is running out. He pops his head up, and the two actually did leave. He’s alone again. Quix ignores anything labelled L. He’s not here for that loser.

He's here for the generation of losers, the second generation. Another drawer popped open, and…

“Finally,” Quix grumbles. He thumbs through the aliases. Without looking at the innards, he snatches both Eye’s and…

Where is Umbral? Where-

One of Whisper’s many bits of information pops into his mind. Umbral had a different alias years ago. He changed it over time.

Quix grabs the file on Piper.

Both are stuffed into his bag. He takes another brief look at the room. Everything is how he left it. Quix slips out of the room, once more, nobody in the hallway. On his way back to the infirmary, the rest of the power comes back. The ringing stops. Thank god for blind spots.

Quix returns to the infirmary. Nobody else is there. He wobbles in, putting on an act for the camera in there. He sets his bag down and collapses on the bed.

A moment later, Gamma is there again.

“Did you get up?”

Quix looks at her, the air of confusion back around him. She sighs and helps him readjust. Then, she places the sheet back over him.

“You know you shouldn’t move after a seizure.”

“R… ringing…?”

Gamma pinches the bridge of her nose. “You didn’t imagine it. Don’t worry. You’ll hear about it later.”

Quix closes his eyes. Gamma goes back to business, now checking on the infirmary tech to make sure nothing was broken because of the incident. Quix rolls onto his side and smiles.

Yeah, too fucking easy.

--

NNEMP: Nonnuclear electro magnetic pulsator, as opposed to NEMPs, nuclear based electro magnetic pulsators. NNEMPS are safer and less commonly used in warfare, however, Quix is not raging a war and does not have access to nukes. Thanks.

Jammers: not sure if this is the right term, but it’s something Quix (and others) use to jam signals from cameras/microphones/etc. Imagine it’s like static on TV or radio.

Epilepsy: a seizure disorder. Seizures and epilepsy have many variations. Quix does not suffer tonic clonic/grand mal seizures, which is what most people think about when they hear ‘seizure’. He has partial/absence seizures, which are less noticeable in general unless they’re on the worse side. Think zoning out and being unresponsive.

EEG: similar to an EKG but for the brain instead of the heart. Electroencephalogram is what it stands for. Painless brain reading. Used in sleep studies and other brain disorder studies.

[oceandiagonale]

Wurmple anon here! I had a feeling submission would be fucked BUT i’m glad the images got thru. It didn’t want to cooperate at all with me😔 To answer your question, yes Echo’s dad is basically the hat man! and ngl i totally thought i was funny by making his initials spell EGG but no its actually EEG 😂 ya gurl had dyslexic moment but his name stuck. He is detective gray or Edgar and my god he is so morally gray its astounding 😳

honestly everyone should still call him EGG, that's like THE ideal name for a morally gray eldritch being 😂😂😂

don't worry about the submission being broken!! it's happened a few other times before and it's not a huge problem -- tumblr just does it sometimes 🕺🕺🕺

some guy: professor tulip is the worst lol

echo: I’m going to Bite you

some guy: okay and????

echo: that was a capital B asshole

[penpatronuswhump]

WHUMPTOBER 2020

No. 18

Fandom: Avengers

Whumpee: Tony Stark

Caretakers: Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers

Title: The Ghost

By: PenPatronus // PenPatronusAooO 

Nobody believed Tony when he told them the things he heard: footsteps he couldn’t account for, the sound of the refrigerator door opening when no one was in the kitchen, scratching sounds from his closet when he tried to sleep… Nobody believed Tony when he told them the things he saw: shadows around the corner that weren’t there when he turned, objects moving by themselves, a brief extra face in the mirror… Nobody believed Tony when he told them about what was moved or missing: his favorite screwdriver disappeared, his laptop was always closed when he returned after he swear he left it opened, the books on his nightstand rearranged themselves…

 “Are you saying there’s a ghost in the Tower?” Cap asked while he and Tony ate eggs together one morning.

 “I’m saying…” Tony thought about it for a moment. “I’m not sure what I’m saying… All I know is these things are happening.”

 Steve gave him a long look. “Have you been getting enough sleep?”

 “Yes.”

 “No, you haven’t. You never get enough sleep.”

 “Ok, I’m getting my normal amount of sleep,” Tony conceded.

 “Have you been eating?”

 “Yes, and don’t ask about my bowel habits next, please.”

 “I’m just saying, maybe you’re getting sick or something.”

 “I don’t have a headache, I’m not sleepy – I feel fine,” Tony insisted. “And I know what I’m seeing!”

 “Mhmm…” Steve chewed and swallowed two forkfuls of eggs before he spoke again. “Maybe you should, you know, get your, er, brain checked. MRI or EKG or EEG or whatever machine it is that looks at your brain.”

 Tony glared at his friend. “You don’t believe me, do you? You think I’m paranoid.”

 “Tony, I believe you’re seeing things, I’m just not convinced those things are real.”

 “Great. Nice.” Tony slammed his dirty dishes into the sink. “You know, if you were seeing these things, I’d trust you. I’d scan this whole place looking for irregularities and—”

 “Have you scanned the whole place?”

 “Of course, I—!” Tony sighed. “I’m going for a swim.”

 “You just ate.”

 “Don’t mother me, Rogers!” Tony marched to the seventeenth floor in a huff. He thought he heard footsteps following him, but decided to ignore the sound. Maybe he WAS getting paranoid? They hadn’t been on a mission in weeks… Maybe he was getting antsy and looking for things that weren’t there? Tony contemplated all of that while he undressed in the men’s locker room and then dove into his Olympic-sized pool. Swimming always cleared his head.

 He was in the deep end, in the left lane, when something heavy landed on him. Arms wrapped around his neck, legs around his torso, and he sank, fast. Tony struggled, but whoever it was had his arms pinned to his sides. He let himself sink all the say to the bottom and then, when his bare feet touched, he launched himself upwards with all his strength. Briefly, he emerged – long enough for a strangled “HELP!” that he hoped JARVIS heard. Then he was back underwater. He hadn’t had time for an inhale, so the water went up his nose almost instantly. Whoever was on top of him turned his body and, for a moment, Tony thought he saw a face…

 He woke up, sat up, and promptly vomited. Steve was beside him, pounding on his back, saying encouraging words, telling him to breathe. Tony obeyed, but he also turned left and right, looking, desperately, for whoever had tried to drown him. His left leg suddenly screamed for his attention. It was cramped up from knee to ankle. Tony rubbed it furiously. “Where is he?” he coughed.

 “Where’s who?” Steve went from pounding on Tony’s back to rubbing it. “I told you not to go swimming right after eating. See? You cramped up.”

 “I didn’t almost die because of a cramp, Cap, someone jumped on me!”

 “Tony, JARVIS didn’t say anything about that when he summoned me, and it was only you when I got here. There was no one else.”

 Tony got shakily to his feet. Steve begged him to sit down, but Tony pushed him aside and headed for the locker room. He got to the nearest screen implanted in the wall and started pushing buttons. The security footage of the pool showed him swimming, then going under, up again, and then back under. JARVIS summoned Cap and, a few second later, Steve dove in and pulled Tony out. There was no one else there.

 “This… This isn’t right.” Tony turned to Cap. “I’m telling you, someone tried to kill me!”

 Steve pointed at the screen. “You just saw, Tony. There’s nothing there. You got a cramp in your leg and you couldn’t swim with it. That’s what really happened.” Steve took him by the elbow. “Let’s get you dried off,” he said. “Come on. Sit down.” Steve plucked a white towel off a neat pile and wrapped it around Tony’s shoulders. “You’re shaking.” He took another towel and wiped off his arms.

 Tony tried to relax and allow Cap to take care of him.

 ----------

 They were all eating dinner together – Tony, Steve, Clint, Bruce, Natasha, and Thor – when the ghost attacked again. Suddenly, Tony fell backwards in his chair, taking the steak on his fork with him, and smashed into the floor. Everyone but Steve laughed. They all assumed he’d leaned too far back. But Steve noticed the speed and force of the fall and knew that Tony had been pulled from behind. He sprinted around the table and helped Tony back up onto his feet. The moment Tony stood straight, something slammed into his chin and he ended up on the floor. He then rolled up against the table as something kicked him in the stomach.

 “Believe me now?” Tony grunted to Steve.

 “Team, there’s something here – protect Tony,” Steve ordered. Everyone took out their weapons and made a circle around Tony, their meals forgotten on the dining room table. Something picked up Tony’s plate of food and frisbeed it across the room.

 “What the hell?” Barton sputtered.

 Tony suddenly fell on his ass, his left foot in the air. Something had reached between Thor’s legs and grabbed him by the ankle. Thor dropped his hammer down, but hit nothing. “I do not see anything,” said Thor. He twirled his hammer in his hand. “What is happening?”

 “Team, we have to be able to see this thing. Talk to me!” Steve yelled.

 Natasha sprinted into the kitchen. The moment she stepped aside, invisible hands grabbed Tony by the shirt and threw him over the couch. Tony landed hard on his side, his arm twisted under his torso. Another kick to the stomach and he was on his back, fighting off hands trying to choke him. Steve tackled the being on top of him and they went rolling across the room. Two punches to Steve’s cheek later, and the thing moved back to Tony. It lifted him nearly off his feet, and then launched him into the air. Tony bounced off a window, leaving a crack in his wake. He fought up to his knees, swaying back and forth, debating between trying to get up and staying down.

 Steve hurried back to Tony. “Think I have a concussion,” Tony said, words slurring. “Or possibly a skull fracture. Or a ‘me’ fracture.” He leaned too far to the left, then too far to the right, and had to hold on to Cap’s shoulder to stay up. “Steve…”

 “Hang in there,” Steve encouraged. His eyes darted around the room super-soldier fact. “We’ll get him.”

 “That would be lovely,” Tony deadpanned. And then he was tackled from the side. His head twisted back and forth as he endured punch after punch. Tony spat blood. A tooth fell out. His eye turned black. Natasha reappeared. She launched an open bag of flour at him and it didn’t hit him – it covered the thing on him in white powder. Thor immediately threw his hammer and hit the thing right in the chest. It bounced off the same window Tony had, this time leaving a broken window instead of just a crack. The ghost tried to wipe off the flour, but it was too late. Clint tackled him from behind and, with Bruce’s help, put handcuffs on his wrists, behind his back. Thor lifted the thing up by the throat and held it in mid-air. “Reveal yourself,” he ordered with a growl.

 Light fluctuated. A rain of color descended and there, grinning at them all, was a very familiar face.

 “Loki!” Thor roared. He slammed the back of his brother’s head against a window. “What the hell are you doing?”

 The trickster shrugged. “Can’t a guy have a little bit of fun?” He looked at Tony, who was on his feet only because Steve and Bruce held him up. “Psychologically torturing Stark for weeks? All fun and games.”

 “Fun and—!” Thor dragged Loki to the elevator, kicked him inside, gave Stark an apologetic look, and went inside. “Let’s see what Father has to say about this…” he said before the doors closed.

 Tony’s knees gave out. Steve and Bruce carried him over to the couch and helped him lie down. While the others got ice packs and first aid kits and blankets, Steve knelt and took Tony’s hand. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”

 Tony rolled his eyes. “I don’t always give people reasons to trust me, I know… I just thought…”

 “I’d be different.” Steve winced. “I’m sorry. I really am. Let me make this up to you.”

 Another roll of the eyes. “You don’t have to do anything, Cap.”

 “I want to.”

 Tony stared at him. “Fine.” He thought for a minute, then smiled through bloody lips. “Cheeseburger.”

 The End

[dionysus-is-my-dude]

So people in my town either care only about themselves during this pandemic, or just don't care at all. A woman is gonna have her family over for Easter, despite still being in quarantine by then. People are coming up to the stand and telling me it's all bs and that they don't really think this is a big deal that requires all these restrictions.

I told one of my last customers what people were saying and she said they were all idiots. She works in a hospital in a town close by and works in the EEG part. And she's dealing with infected people every day. She told me that it IS serious, that more people are infected and dying than we think, and that a lot of media outlets are not giving us the full truth. She told me about all the gear she has to put, and how she can't be in the room doing her job with an infected patient. She was so mad about all the lies my dad believed by the major news media.

I'm now currently exposed to dozens of people who either wear masks and gloves or use hand sanitizer that we provide, or don't care at all and claim I'm being paranoid and that the situation isn't really that bad. Having heard it from a health care worker, it IS bad, and it's going to get worse.

I'm trying to stay informed in my area. As far as I know, there have been two cases. But there are most likely more that just haven't been confirmed yet. I know a lot of people want to celebrate Easter, be with family, go out and do things like have cookouts and go to the playgrounds with their kids, but they really should NOT. Playgrounds have been marked with signs telling people the playground is not safe during the pandemic. A lot of daycares have been closed down, leaving kids home in possibly harmful situations. My uncle's girlfriend told me all he did before going back to work was drink ALL DAY.

Stay indoors unless you need groceries or must go to work. Do not go to cookouts or Easter egg hunts. Do not go to the playgrounds. The EEG worker I spoke to said we haven't peaked yet. So we need to care about ourselves and each other. Being bored is not an excuse to be stupid and get yourself or anyone else infected and possibly killed. My local news talked about how they're preparing for an increase in cases of child and domestic abuse. If you see something, say something. If you are in an unsafe environment, contact your local authorities. Being safe means ALWAYS being safe, not just in times like these.

Please stay safe, my dudes. Please follow your state's guidelines and care for yourself and others.

[brainnovation]

Natural Remedies for ADHD

ADHD also known as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a very common neurodevelopmental disorder in children and Adults. Most of the cases are diagnosed in childhood and last till adulthood. Those with ADHD have difficulty paying attention, and controlling impulsive behaviour, they act without thinking about the results.

ADHD can be caused by brain damage, excessive alcohol or tobacco use, premature delivery or low birth weight however genetic factors are known to be a common cause for the condition.

Treatment of ADHD

ADHD treatment in Dubai includes behaviour therapy and medications. Behaviour therapy and training of parents are considered the first step in treating ADHD in Dubai. It is followed by proper monitoring, follow-ups, and changes if required. After all these steps, medications intervene. As more and more cases of ADHD are being diagnosed, medicines for ADHD are rapidly being sold in the market.

These medicines might sometimes have minor side effects that can harm the patient in one way or the other. But there is nothing to fear because nature is here to help you, it has some of the finest ingredients that can help a person suffering from ADHD not only reduce the symptoms but at times also treat the disease completely. Here are some of the natural remedies for ADHD treatment agreed upon by experts in Dubai.

Avoiding allergens

A diet that restricts allergens helps people improve the behaviour of children suffering from ADHD. It is always better to get professional advice and visit an allergy doctor in case you suspect your child has any allergies but if you don’t want to visit a doctor an experiment can be done by avoiding these foods. Some of these foods include milk, eggs, chocolates, food containing salicylates like chilli pi powder, grapes, apple, peach, and tomatoes, and chemical preservatives like butylated hydroxytoluene and butylated hydroxyanisole they are used as a preservative in oils and also found in processed foods like chips, chewing gum, butter, cereal, etc.

Avoid using food colours or other preservatives

Researchers have shown that some food colours and preservatives are responsible for the increased or hyperactive behaviour in some children. The foods containing these colouring and preservatives should be avoided.

One of these preservatives include sodium benzoate which is commonly found in fruit juices and carbonated beverages.

Some of the food colours that lead to hyperactive behaviour include:

Yellow number 6 which is sunset yellow is found in cereals, candy, soft drinks, and icing.

Yellow number 5 is found in pickles and yoghurt.

Read number 40 it is found in soft drinks, medications and ice cream.

Yellow number 10 is found in juices and smoked haddock.

Use EEG biofeedback

It is a type of neurotherapy that measures brain waves. This type of training has been proved to have very positive effects on children suffering from ADHD.

ADHD treatment in Dubai includes giving a child a special video game so that he can concentrate on it such as keeping the plane flying or keeping the car moving. If they get distracted the plane might crash or the car might break down. The game teaches the child how to focus on one thing, and eventually, the child starts to identify and correct his symptoms.

Therapy

Different therapies are found to be very effective in people with ADHD. They learn how to manage their condition, they not only help you to identify the problem but also help you to modify unhealthy or unhelpful thoughts and behaviours. There are many types of therapies for ADHD some of them are cognitive behaviour therapy, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy family therapy, and couples counselling.

Maintain healthy sleep patterns

Sleep disturbances may also cause problems in ADHD. Doctors are not sure whether the sleep issues are because of ADHD or not or if they just increase its symptoms. It is said that a positive relationship between sleep can be very much beneficial for different problems in life, one of which includes reducing ADHD symptoms.

Exercise

Aerobic exercises are proved to have a positive effect on ADHD patients. Working out is one of the natural remedies for ADHD it helps in reducing major symptoms like hyperactivity, functioning issues a, and anxiety problems especially in children

Like any disease treatment efficacy may vary from person to person, one form of natural treatment may not be effective to all of the patients of ADHD. The most important thing to remember is that treatment has proven very successful for people living with ADHD whether they are a child, a teen, or an adult. No matter what type of natural remedy or doctor medication you take, it is always important to treat the symptoms on time. Source - https://brainnovation.ae/natural-remedies-for-adhd/

[savantv]

Take the Sleep Challenge

There’s a common experience many people have when they take a week or more of vacation, almost any kind of vacation. Wherever they go, however, they sleep late, or anyway, sleep more. A common feature of many vacations is that the alarm clock gets turned off for many days in a row. At the end of this week of extra sleep, many people report feeling fantastic. They feel more energetic, excited about life, creative, motivated, happy, and more. Of course, just being on vacation is a part of this, but this feeling often follows you back from vacation when you return to work and regular life. The mental clarity can be really delightful. If you had this experience, there’s a lot of evidence that what you’re actually feeling is your brain functioning the way that it’s supposed to, the way your brain functions when it’s had a proper amount of sleep. My first tip of this lecture is one you’ve heard before from your mother or grandmother or from no one else — 

 Tip: You should get about eight hours of sleep a night, almost every night. 

 There are many, many people who report they sleep less than eight hours on most nights, less than five even. Most report that they just feel fine. Many people have a certain amount of pride in their ability to get along without wasting all those hours doing nothing. Others may have a more fatalistic view. They may like to get more sleep, but that doesn’t seem possible, at least not all the time. Either way, you can outsmart yourself by getting more sleep. A wide variety of data suggest two important things. First, when we don’t get about eight hours of sleep per night, our cognitive performance is substantially reduced. Second, we don’t realize it. So let me focus my tip a little more here. 

Tip: I recommend that you experiment with getting eight hours of good sleep— eight hours in a row here — every night for two weeks. 

This will likely entail cutting out some other activities, cutting them out of your daily schedule. The day will not become any longer for this experiment, so some shuffling of your schedule might be needed but it’s just for two weeks. 

Let’s consider what sleep actually is, and what your body and brain do while you’re asleep. Most people think of sleep as a time when your brain and the rest of your body shut down for a few hours. But our brains remain very active when we sleep. There are certain jobs that the brain needs to do every night, as part of its normal functioning. If the brain skips those tasks, the brain’s level of function will decline. Decision-making, memory, control of physical actions, emotional regulation, creativity, and even basic perception— all of these processes will become more prone to error. This is true when people are prevented from sleeping at all for an extended period, buts it’s also true for people who get somewhat less than eight hours of sleep for several nights in a row. Tests of intelligence, creativity, the focus of attention, and memory all show lower performance with this cumulative sleep deprivation. In one study conducted in the European Union 🇪🇺, it was estimated that 10% of all auto accidents involve people driving while drowsy. People who report that they sleep six to seven hours per night that’s very common here. Six to seven hours per night are twice as likely to be in a car crash as people who sleep for eight hours per night. Sleeping eight hours a night for two weeks just might save your life. The most important tool in the sleep researchers kit is the EEG. It records tiny electrical signals produced by neurons in the brain. Many circuits in the brain produce variations in the amplitude of the brain waves, each of which takes the shape of the sine function. The voltage cycles up and then back up. Some brain circuits oscillate quickly, producing high-frequency waves. Other circuits cycle slowly, producing low-frequency waves. When the EGG records the electrical activity, it captures a sum of all of these waves put together. The raw data from an EEG doesn’t look sinusoidal at all because all of these different frequencies are essentially piled up on top of one another. The first thing that a sleep scientist will do with this EEG data is to apply a mathematical process called a “Fourier Transform”.  It takes a complex mixture of different frequencies and decomposes that mixture back into the underlying sine functions. The outcome of this Fourier Transform is something called a power function. We can look at that decomposition, and talk about how much energy is present in the brain at different frequencies. When you are awake - - indeed, probably right now as you watch, this power function would have a lot of energy in the range of 13 to 24 cycles per second. This energy pattern is associated with normal waking thoughts. Sleep researchers refer to this energy in this particular frequency as “Beta Waves”. The power spectrum of beta waves indicates an active wakeful brain. As you relax at the end of the day and get ready to fall asleep, the energy in that beta range drops, while the energy in the Alpha range of 8 to 12 cycles per second increases. The beta waves become less pronounced, and 8 to 12-cycle alpha waves take their place. You don’t need to be asleep to make this happen, actually. If you meditate, if you just close your eyes and take a deep breath, and say, relax, as you exhale, it you relax and clear your mind, you’ll shift a lot of your brain activity from beta waves to alpha waves. As you fall asleep the energy in the alpha range drops off and is replaced by the theta waves in the 4 to 7 cycles per second range. As this happens you lose consciousness. You are lightly asleep. Sleep researchers call this stage 1 sleep. You and your brain will typically remain in this state for 10 to 30 minutes before shifting into stage 2 sleep, then 3, then 4. As you pass into each of the stages, your brain continues to produce more and more energy in slower and slower frequency ranges. In the deepest stages of sleep, your brain will be producing a great deal of “Delta Wave” activity at a frequency of fewer than 4 cycles per second. Ok, so this progression into deeper and deeper sleep sounds like an engine revving down to stop as if the brain is slowing down and not doing things. The energy output of the brain, however, doesn’t drastically change. The waves of activity that it produces are slower than when you’re awake, but the deeper the sleep, the higher the amplitude. In the deepest sleep, your brain waves have a much higher amplitude. There are fewer waves, but they’re bigger. Just to be clear your brain isn’t turning off at all when you go to sleep. It’s just shifting into a different mode of activity. There are more and more delta waves in place of beta alpha, or theta waves. Your brain and body step down through four stages of deepening sleep, from awake to very deep sleep. Essentially, everyone exhibits this pattern of activity as they sleep for the first hour or so. You remain in deep delta wave sleep for about a half hour or so after. If you ever try to wake someone when they’re in this fourth deepest stage of sleep, you’ll find that it’s a hard thing to do. It can take several minutes, during which time the sleeper seems confused or disoriented. Presuming that no one does wake you up, you’ll spend a half hour or so in the deep sleep. After, this half-hour, your brain waves being stepping up their rate of activity, back towards the place you were at the beginning, producing fewer delta waves, then more theta waves, then more beta waves. At this point, you will have stepped back up to stage 1 sleep. At the top of the steps, however, you don’t continue and wake up. A really remarkable set of changes emerges. The activity level of the brain becomes very much like that of someone who is awake. Lots of energy shows up in the alpha range. This is called REM sleep. While the brain becomes very active at this point, the muscles in the most of body become deeply relaxed. Throughout most of the day, even when you’re just sitting still, your muscles maintain a certain level of tone. It’s rigidity that’s produced by a relatively slow, but steady stream of neural impulses delivered from your brain via your spinal cord to your peripheral nerves. As you enter this stage of sleep, however, those signals drop off. The muscles become remarkably inactive, almost paralyzed. The muscles that control the movements of the eyes are an exception to this. The eyes become very active, darting back and forth, up and down, as if rapidly scanning something. The eyes are still closed, of course. You’re sleeping. But you can see the eyeballs moving behind the lids if you look. These rapid eye movements are the feature that gives the sleep stage its name. That’s why it’s R.E.M or REM sleep. If you awaken someone when they’re exhibiting these sleep characteristics, he will essentially always tell you that he was just having a dream. Other sleep phases have particular things associated with them as well. In stage 2, people often experience hypnic jerking. Many people report a periodic experience of a momentary dream of falling. The jerk briefly awakens with a bit of an adrenaline rush. In early stage 3, people can sleepwalk, by the way, it’s fine to wake up someone who’s sleepwalking. It’s better to wake them to just avoid injuries. Usually, this involves just walking into a door or stubbing a toe, but it’s not unheard of for someone to leave their house and even drive a car while sleepwalking. In stage 4 sleep, many children experience something called night terrors, in which they begin screaming out, seemingly in great fear in the middle of the night. One reassuring, even sort of amusing, consequence of the fact that stage 4 sleep is such a deep sleep is that most children who experience night terrors have no idea that they’ve done so. The child screams in terror. I can tell you from firsthand experience that the parents come running to the child’s bedroom. The parents urgently ask, what’s the matter? and the child doesn’t respond. They wake the child up in complete confusion about why they are in their room because they are trying to sleep. While all of these sleep stages have particular processes associated with them, I want to talk a bit more about REM sleep, the dreaming sleep. There is a wealth of evidence that your brain does important work that supports regular brain function during this stage. Just one example is memory. You tend to dream about the things that have happened to you in the recent past. Indeed, most frequently about things that happened during the previous day. Early in the evening, those dreams will tend to be very literal. If you went to the park with your dog and mom a dream early in your sleep time is likely to be about that trip. Later in the evening, the dream becomes more abstract in nature. A dream later during the night might be about travels to distant lands taken with large animals and family members. This replay and abstraction process is critical to optimal memory. Also to higher levels of creativity and problem-solving. We encode things into our long-term memory as we experience them during the day, but those memories seem to be consolidated in an important way during the following night of REM sleep. If you prevent someone from getting REM sleep, even if you allow them to get a lot of non-REM sleep, detailed memory for experience and new things that you learn during that day will tend to suffer. Cognitive function also generally declines, according to a wide range of cognitive function measures. In a sleep lab, this REM deprivation is accomplished by letting someone sleep, and identifying when they enter that REM sleep phase. As soon as they do, the researcher wakes the participant up, talks to him for a minute, and then lets him drift off to sleep again. Unfortunately, for the participant, he can’t just jump back into his sleep cycle at the REM stage. He has to start again in stage 1. About 90 minutes later, when he is about to enter that REM stage again, the experimenter wakes the participant up. If this happens all night, the participant’s brain won’t work so well in the morning. Reaction time gets slower, short-term memory function drops, creativity worsens, and emotional regulation is reduced. Angry outbursts and mood swings are far more likely for someone who’s been prevented from getting their normal REM sleep. And all of this even while getting eight hours of sleep, just without any REM sleep in the mix. Your brain needs to dream. It needs this REM sleep like it needs nutritious food. 

With this in mind, I can get back to making my argument for eight hours of sleep. I described the different phases that make up a standard sleep cycle- - stage 1, then 2,3,4, back up, 3, 2, 1, then REM sleep. I mentioned how long you spend in each of these phases. If you add them up, a trip through all the stages takes about 90 minutes. If you sleep for about eight hours, you’ll go through about five of the sleep cycles, down to 4, up to 5, and then back down for another go around. The cycles are all similar, but not exactly. Every additional sleep cycle you complete has more and more dreaming. Your first REM cycle of the night might last only 30 seconds, maybe a minute. The second will tend to be twice as long. The third is even longer. Most of your REM sleep, the vast majority of this important brain process, takes place in the last two sleep cycles of an eight-hour sleep session. If you reduce your sleep by a couple of hours a night- - say you sleep six hours, instead of eight- - you might feel that you’ve still got most of a good night’s sleep. in terms of total hours, that’s sort of correct. You’ve only missed out on about 25% of your sleep time. But in terms of REM sleep time, you may have cut your night down by 40%. This is why eight hours per night is so important, what your brain wants and needs. Try giving it to your brain for two weeks. I am confident that you will be delighted with the results. This leads to my next step for outsmarting yourself- - 

 Tip: Don’t take naps. 

Napping can be really destructive for REM sleep. If you sleep for 90 minutes, you’ll get a full sleep cycle in, including a brief bit of REM sleep. But if that nap reduces the amount of sleep that you can get the following night, even buying a couple of hours, you will greatly reduce the total amount of REM sleep. Again, maybe by as much as 40%. And as we’ve considered here, REM sleep is critical to normal function. I should say a few words here about power naps. This topic has received a lot of media coverage, and it’s been the subject of a lot of scientific investigations over the past few decades. If you feel tired in the middle of the day, the modern workplace tends to frown on napping. Many people just push through the tired feeling. Many people reach for a cup of coffee or an energy drink. An alternative offered by many people is that we should just let people take brief naps. Most companies would prefer to not pay their employees for sleeping on the job, but perhaps if you let people sleep for 20 minutes, you can get a lot more productive work out of them over the course of the rest of the day. That sounds a lot better than having a groggy employee walking around not doing very much good work, and perhaps even doing some bad work that will need to be undone in the future. Google and a few other companies have gone so far as to install napping pods in various locations around their campus. If you’re tired, take a nap. Then, get back to doing the right thing and making the world a better place. Ok, that’s the idea. What about science? The good news for power nappers is that a 20 to 60-minute nap, less than a full sleep cycle here, without REM sleep, does boost cognitive function. All the usual data supports this. Faster reaction times, better working memory, and better problem-solving abilities. Now, the bad news for power nappers. First, essentially all of this data, all these studies, have been done with experiments with participants who were sleep deprived. When experimenters conduct studies of power napping, a standard procedure is to start by asking participants to reduce their nightly sleep by about an hour and a half or two hours for at least one night before they participate in a power nap experiment. In some highly cited studies on this topic, participants have been prevented from sleeping for over 24 hours prior to participating. If you are sleep deprived, a power nap will help you. This is quite clear. If you’re not sleep-deprived, then you probably won’t nap when you’re given the opportunity, and the power nap won’t help. Take my two-week, eight hours per night challenge. If you decide it’s not worth it you can always go back to the shorter sleep times that you’re using now. It may be a hassle but remember it’s just for two weeks. It doesn’t have to be that you’re changing your life forever. That said I think it will. Some people say that they don’t want eight hours of sleep. Others claimed that they would love those eight hours, but they have a great deal of trouble falling, or staying asleep. Insomnia is a condition that affects millions of people. A study by the Centers for Disease Control found that 9 million Americans are regular users of prescription sleep medication. this is a go-to strategy that most people use when insomnia strikes. There are two big problems with this. The big one is that standard sleeping medications- - Ambien, for instance- - disrupt REM sleep. Most medications that function as depressants do the same thing. If you go to sleep after several alcoholic drinks, the same thing happens. REM sleep, as we’ve discussed, is one of the critical processes of sleep. Without REM-phase sleep, sleep’s just not as beneficial. Second, with regular use, humans develop a tolerance to sleep-including meditations, that is, even if the meditation works well when you first start taking it, your body will adapt to it. Those homeostasis systems in your brain will recognize that a depressant is about to survive and take steps to counteract it. Eventually, unless you increase the dosage, the sleep aid will stop being very effective, and increasing the dosage is dangerous. Overdose and death are real risks if this is done carelessly. Unlike most sleeping pills, melatonin supplements are not depressants. Melatonin is a hormone produced by the brain as part of the process of inducing sleep. By taking melatonin (C13H16N2O2) orally, this process can be brought on more quickly. This can be very effective in the short term, over a few days perhaps, as you’re struggling to overcome jet lag, or maybe reset the time that you fall asleep at night. But in the long term, melatonin isn’t an optimal solution for insomnia. Several studies have suggested that overtime, people developed a tolerance to melatonin supplements, as with any other consistently taken medication. There are also possible mild side effects, such as headaches, stomach cramps, or irritability that can become more of an issue. So how can you combat insomnia if you don’t take sleeping pills? The outsmart tip here is to strengthen your unconscious association between your bedroom and sleep. Many people who report problems with insomnia also do lots of things while sitting in bed, not just sleeping. They watch movies. They work on their computers. They make calls. In a lot of cases, even eat meals. To the extent that you do this, the unconscious systems that regulate your sleep come to associate all of these non-sleep activities with your bed. You climb into bed, hoping to sleep. You have consciously decided that it’s sleep time. Based on processes that are occurring in your frontal lobes, presumably. But your sleep regulation is controlled by unconscious systems. Your unconscious control systems know that you’re in bed, and are ready to watch a movie, work on a computer, or eat. To fix this, stop doing all of these non-sleep activities in bed. When you go to bed, turn out the lights, and shut your eyes. Now, if you’re fighting about insomnia, you’ll probably just have to lay there for a while. This will be especially true if you’ve been taking a sleeping pill but stop on that particular night. Your body will be producing extra activity to counteract the expected depressant medication, which will make it that much harder to fall asleep. If you find yourself laying there awake the basic tip here is just to keep doing it, just relax, and wait for sleep to come to you. Be patient. Relax. That’s easy to say, but this is hard if you’ve been battling insomnia for a while. It can be downright frustrating, actually. You might find yourself feeling angry about being plagued with this problem and anxious that it won’t go away. Both of these are associated with increases in activation of the limbic system and the sympathetic part of the automatic nervous system. Both will make it harder to fall asleep. I recommend meditating. Mentally focus on your breathing, and try to clear your mind. Try to stop thinking about falling asleep. Try to stop thinking altogether. If your thought intrudes as you do this, just gently push it aside and continue. When you’re in the process of changing your associations with your bedroom, you may sleep even the first day you’re doing so. Over time, typically a week or so, your unconscious mind will learn to sleep normally again. If you put a tired body into a fully dark, quiet, cool, comfortable space, and make it lay very still for a while, with very few exceptions, it’s very likely to fall asleep. I should say when you do sleep, and I’m confident that you will sleep eventually, you will, by definition, lose consciousness. There are times when people fall asleep, and then gently wake up without ever realizing it. It might be that, even during that first night when you try this, you’ll be drifting in and out of sleep without ever knowing it. Even if it feels like it’s not working, I urge you to stick with this strategy for at least a week or so. Some patience is required here, but there’s really good evidence that is sleep association strategy works. Before you go to bed there are a few steps that you can take to ensure an effective night to sleep. 

Tip: Avoid bright, blue lights before sleep for several hours before you try to go to bed. 

Bright incandescent or fluorescent lights can be bad. Computer screens, iPad screens, and modern LCD television screens, they’re even worse. For several hours before you plan to start sleeping, you should avoid exposing your eyes to any of them. To fully understand this, there are three things you have to understand about how the brain and our eyes regulate our sleep. First, proper sleep relies on a 24-hour timing cycle, a circadian rhythm, maintained by your brain, particularly the part of the brain that regulates sleep function. Second. The clock in your head runs slow. Fortunately, the clock has a natural mechanism for setting the right time every day. Third, there is a lot of blue light that doesn’t look blue. Ok, let’s start with the human circadian rhythm and the internal clock inside your brain. The clock itself is a tiny region called the “Suprachiasmatic Nucleus”. It’s about 20,000 neurons. It’s located in the hypothalamus, right above the “Optic Chiasm”. An optic chiasm is a place where the optic nerves from your two eyes come together. More on that optic nerve in a minute. Every evening, the clock triggers a cascade of physiological events. It causes the resale of melatonin, a hormone that works a lower your heart rate and body temperature, and eventually brings on sleep. There’s one problem with the clock. It runs slow, about one hour show each day. Studies have been run in which participants lived in an environment without external time cues. They were sequestered in an isolated basement living area. All clocks were removed, and care was taken to remove any other time cues as well. The participants in these studies were allowed to turn the lights on and off whenever they wanted, as long as they stayed in the living area. When they felt it was time to go to sleep, they could shut the lights out and do so. First, the participants slept for about eight hours a night. Left to our natural inclinations, if your human body wants those eight hours. Second, every eight hours of sleep started about 25 hours after the last one started. The human circadian rhythm clock directed the normal sleep pattern, but it waited constantly longer than 24 hours from cycle to cycle. If our bodies want to live on a 25-hour cycle, why don’t we all do so? The suprachiasmatic nucleus has a reset mechanism— sunlight. We wake up, and sometime shortly thereafter, most people see some sunlight. As we do, it resets the clock. After a day has passed, the sun starts to set and the light gets dimmer. The clock starts to run down and start up the sleep cycle. When the sunlight hits it the next day, boom starts all over again. 

 In 1998, researchers discovered a type of receptor in the human retina that’s critical to this process. These receptors are called “Melanopsin Retinal Ganglion Cells”. These cells connect almost directly from the eye down to the optic nerve, and then to the suprachiasmatic nucleus. These particular receptors are most sensitive to blue light. If you shine a purely red light on your eyes, it will activate these receptors a little, especially if it’s very bright. But even a small amount of blue light will cause these receptors to send a burst of activation from the eye to that internal sleep clock located above the optic chiasm. There’s one last thing about light that’s important to note here. Blue light, of course, contains blue light wavelengths. But so do many other colors. Sunlight, even bright white sunlight, contains an evenly distributed mix of many wavelengths of light, including blue. So it’s the blue range wavelengths that matter, but even when you’re just looking at something, something that isn’t just blue, especially in conditions of bright illumination, there’s often a blue wavelength component to it. When this blue-frequency light strikes the receptors, it disrupts the suprachiasmatic nucleus function. If you look at your computer screen, it greatly reduces your brain’s release of melatonin. It’s like you’ve taken the clock that was running slow already and grabbed the second hand to make it stop completely for a while. If you must look at a screen at bedtime, there’s another solution— sunglasses. There are some very pricey sunglasses the market that specify on the market that specifically block blue light frequencies, but almost any orange-tinted sunglasses will work almost as well. You might feel a little silly wearing sunglasses while you watch TV before bed, but there’s good evidence that they work here. You may struggle with your bedtime fashion choices, but your melatonin levels will rise more normally, and you’ll drop off to sleep more quickly. There’s a flip side to this that you might find useful about eight hours later. Look out the window at the blue sky first thing in the morning. Or, if your daily schedule calls for you to rise before the sun,  you can down-regulate your melatonin production and wake up more quickly by starting at a computer screen or television. Broad spectrum or bluish illumination, especially bright illumination, will reset that clock and get your brain active and on its way. Eight hours of sleep per night is important to maintaining optimal brain function. If you’ve been getting less than that for an extended period, you’ve probably gotten used to the problems that come with it. If you don’t believe me, try to keep an open mind and try this eight-hour-a-night challenge for two weeks. 

Helpful Strategies 

Avoid no computer screens in the evening. Avoid naps. 

Try to reverse your sleeping space just for sleeping. 

Avoid taking naps during the day. 

Sleep disruptions are a part of life. There will be times when other things are more important than those eight hours per night. And these sleep-disrupting events are generally temporary. When they pass, the two-week challenge will still be there for you to try again. 

[healthywithin2]

Neurofeedback For ADHD: All You Need To Know

Neurofeedback is also called electroencephalogram (EEG) biofeedback. It will assist your kid with knowing how he/she can control the activities of the brain. This helps them in leading a normal life and provides them with the right manner so that they can perform better in their studies, or any other task they take up.

For many individuals, better concentration assists in speeding up the activities of their brain. This increases the efficiency of the brain. You will be surprised to learn that exactly inverse is the case with kids with Autism. If your child is diagnosed with ADHD, having to concentrate more will make them more vulnerable. This is why contrary to what many people think, asking them to concentrate on things, will not be of much help.

Neurofeedback will help them learn to make their brain more attentive as and when needed without showing any challenging behaviour.

During a session, your PCP will attach sensors to your child’s head. They will then interface these sensors to a screen and permit you and your child to see their own patterns. Your kid will be then asked to focus on something. Now, having the opportunity to see how their brain functions when they’re concentrating, your kid might be able to learn to control the activities of their brain.

Your child can use the biofeedback sensors and monitor as a guide to help them learn to keep their brain active whenever they need to concentrate or perform they need are assigned to work on. When called for a session, your child and PCP together will combine multiple strategies to maintain their focus and see how their brain reacts to each and every strategy. This could assist them with creating effective strategies when they're not generally being monitored.

Neurofeedback is not a popular therapy till today:

As per a survey of by Clinical EGG and Neuroscience, a few examinations have connected neurofeedback to better impulse control among individuals with ADHD. Yet, it isn't broadly acknowledged as an independent treatment yet. Your kid's primary care physician could prescribe neurofeedback as a corresponding treatment to help other treatment options and medications perform at their best.

Same treatment will not suit all:

One has to understand that every child is unique in their own way and same treatment that works for Child A may completely fail to show any improvement in Child B. This is why it is advised that parents should work with their child’s therapist to collectively devise a treatment plan which can prove to be effective. If need be, that treatment plan may or may not include neurofeedback training. Talk to a therapist at a Neurofeedback Franchise for more information.

[toonytoodles]

WIP - Info dump, [TBN project]

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About the world -

It's similar to a ren faire, there's a mix of the midevial and modern worlds, where wearing a wizards cloak is as common as wearing a t-shirt and jeans, there's modern technology as well as old, and a mix of magic and science. Their earth is different than our own, they have two moons and a pink sky, their grass is blue and there are multiple species that inhabit the world, humans live there, but so do fairies, giants, elves, centaurs, manticores, and many more.

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About the town -

Their town is known as Tradeskeep, it's a small town where travellers and adventurers often pass through, the town has a multitude of shops for anything an adventurer may need, such as potions, weapons, and more. There's also a tavern and an inn, so those passing through may rest. This town has older technologies and relies more on magic than science, and acts as a rest stop, it's sort of a small town, a good place to lay low during your travels, though beware of the wildlife, and know that all sales are final. The locals are all very friendly and used to tourists, but dont take kindly to thieves or those who incite violence.

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Holidays/celebrations -

*Winter holidays:

*Fire festival - Cold blooded folks gather to celebrate fire, giving thanks to the warmth that helps them survive during this time of year. It's an ancient tradition hundreds if not thousands of years old, said to have started when dragons first began breathing fire. It's celebrated by gathering together in a festival, the festivities include fire dancing, shows, traditional foods and deserts, music, and games! It also includes watching the dragon migration that flies overhead the festival, and on the rare occasion a dragon lands to rest, it's customary to offer it food. Cold blooded families have celebrations in their homes, exchanging gifts and having a large meal known as "the feast of flames."

*Troploch - A day celebrated by all! On this day hundreds of years ago, the tribes of different species came together and made peace, exchanging offerings and having a great feast to celebrate. This holiday is very meaningful to everyone, the way different species and cultures have come together, it'd be hard to imagine life any other way, especially since most people now have friends and family of other species. This day is celebrated in a simple way, friends and family come together and appreciate that they can be together. This can be celebrated in multiple ways, many people give each other gifts, come together to eat a feast, some sing songs, some do all of the above! However it's celebrated, it's just important to appreciate those around you, as it hasn't always been this way. Many also participate in the traditions of other cultures, for example, a human and a draconic may celebrate both Gjivun and the Fire Festival together.

*Oge'hnn - A silly tradition started decades ago by a child concerned about their borrower friends, but now everyone does it. It's mostly a holiday for borrowers; food, treats, and small trinkets are left out in an offering for borrower families, ensuring that small families have full bellies during the holidays, and even the tiniest of children get a present.

*Jeidiku - A religious holiday, a week is spent fasting before a large feast is had, but it's customary to read from the texts before eating. This is usually a time to repent for any sins, forgive those who've wronged you, a make resolutions for the next year

*Gjivun - Another religious holiday, for this holiday, trees are decorated and presents are put under it for the entire family, there's also a large meal on this day. On this holiday, the day starts by an elder reading the text before beginning the festivities.

*Other holidays throughout the year:

Civirillii - Long long ago, giants were seen as savage monsters, often hunted or hurt for simply existing and trying to survive. They never fought back, many died, and the rest became good at hiding, leading many to think they were nearly extinct. It wasn't until a young human found and befriended a young giant that this changed. He defended his giant friend, and changed the minds of his village, leading to the idea that giants could be trusted. This small village ended up making a huge difference to giants all over the world.

Mjfnor -

A coming of age ritual, where one officially becomes an adult, celebrated by nearly every culture, but some have different names for it, such as Ednder, Giftnik, etc.,

Infinahgan -

A holiday celebrated by elementals, simply a celebration of life, where they tell tales of their ancestors and Infinahgans long ago

Celebrations:

Anniversaries are celebrated, days where couples first met or wed, days where one first came into the world, etc.,

Species notes (basically pokedex entries lol):

*Draconics:

The subtype [TBN] are one of the most common types of Draconics, their skin tones are typically a snowy shade of white, and their scale colors ranging from red-pink-purple, this species of Draconics are fire breathers, and are mildy venomous. Their tail tips are shaped like arrows, an easy way to tell if a Draconic is venomous. In this species, both the males and females have tails, but there's a difference between them; the males have short tails, whereas once females reach maturity, they typically have longer tails, another difference between the two is that only the males have wings. In this spieces, they reproduce sexually and lay eggs, the eegs are large and are often spotted like a sparrows egg. There's no way to know if the egg is male or female until it hatches, and the egg takes about 9 months to hatch, having to be kept warm at all times. Once hatched, they are quite large, about the size of a three month old, and are able to open their eyes, and though uncommon, some have teeth, ready to eat food, but besides those traits are raised like any other child. This sub species of draconics are cold blooded, and their temperature should be considered at all times, as it could mean life or death. Draconic scales are very strong, and it's said that if a Draconic should show you their underbelly while laying down (ESPECIALLY ABSENT MINDEDLY) that they trust you with their lives, as that is their biggest weak point, it means that they see you as family, and in certain circumstances, it could potentially mean that they see you as a partner.

[In the Draconic species, there are many variants, far to many to be described. There are various species of Draconic, some breathing fire, others ice, and even energy and electricity, some have wings while others don't, some have spines and different types of scales, but here I'm mainly discussing Avery's particular subtype, and eventually return to fill in the other variants/subtypes]

*Giants:

Giants are basically large humans, they aren't much different, they just require more space, food, & patience

*Fairies: Fairies are born about half an inch tall with small wings, having their wings grow with them as they age. They can get from 4-7" tall, and at age 15 can gain minimal size shifting, from their regular size to about 4-5' tall, this is exhausting and short lasting, but it's a good ability to learn. Fairies can't fly when their wings are wet, and can't change size when contained.

[This is for my own version of fairies, as everyone has their own interpretations of them]

*Anthropomorphics:

They walk up right, wear clothes and have poseable thumbs, they're a lot like people; but still look like animals, traits from their species, and at times have animalistic behavior. Examples of this include rabbits having good hearing, cats being able to see in the dark, etc., Animalistic behavior is mostly displayed at a young age, and is usually grown out of at a couple of years old. Though sometimes their animalistic (or "savage,") behavior comes out when it's triggered, often when feeling they're in a life or death situation, it's an adrenaline rush that is displayed differently in their species.

*Borrowers:

Borrowers are born very small, and with very protective parents. Typically young borrowers aren't even seen until they're 3-4 years old, as parents try to keep them safe until they're old enough to understand how fragile their species is. When around this species, be aware of your surroundings, your actions, your movements and tone of voice, from the perspective of a borrower everything you do matters.

*Elementals:

There are several classes of elemental; Water, Fire, Earth, Air, Cloud, Slime, Wood, and Electric. This species is genderless, and they have a strange way of reproducing, though as they get older they may choose to assign themselves a gender. Many go by they/them pronouns, and that's sort of the default, but many choose to go by different pronouns, it's sort of an issue among elementals. There's not much anatomy, they're entirely made up of one substance, they have no bones or organs, or eyes- so they sense vibrations to "see," they can't smell either, but they can feel and can sense movement. It can be hard to tell if a bucket of water is sentient- but in this world you have to be careful, when sleeping, elementals revert to the natural form of their element, for example, a water elemental becomes a puddle of water, often choosing to sleep in buckets, fishbowls, cups, etc., this is especially common for very young elementals, they'll sleep wherever they can, in whatever they can. Unknown to most, elementals have a "tether," something that holds them together, so if a water elemental is submerged in water they're not lost forever. Most elementals choose a small clear marble to be their child's tether, as it's not obvious where it is, but really anything can be used. If a tether is taken, the elementals form is lost. If a tether is broken, the elemental dies. So many choose a clear tether, or one not easily found, in an effort to protect their children, as it can be seen as a huge weakness, that some cruel individuals would take advantage of.

[More species information will be updated as it is available]

[sawipbiohacking-blog]

How do you start biohacking?

The subsequent are my go-to hacks for rising cognitive functionality, cutting down stress, shedding Unwanted fat, expanding productivity and more (biotechnology). Whenever you struggle with strain (as nearly all of folks do), It is also tough to aim and become successful and too simple to own recurring illogical Concepts. It might also result in bad judgment and memory issues, and that's undoubtedly not Bulletproof.

Whenever you apply meditation, you apply the artwork of mindfulness, which permits you to settle on which thoughts you want to focus on. It allows you to find how you react to the sensations instead of blinding reacting to them - biohacking. Various ways of practicing meditation include counting, mantras, mindfulness, good self-speak, and regulated respiration workouts.

Pull the air in by your nose many of the way down into your abdomen, then breathe out together with your stomach at first, utilizing your diaphragm to press the air out of your respective lungs. biotechnology. Only your stomach ought to move, not your upper body. The inhale should be a long, constant breath, followed by a pause prior to breathing out, and afterwards http://www.bbc.co.uk/search?q=biohacking A further pause just before getting the subsequent breath.

When you find yourself comfortable, you do have a well balanced heart level variability, or maybe the amount of time between each defeat. Less than pressure, Your whole body resorts to some fixed, rigid rhythm. HeartMath innovations (such as the emWave2 or even the Interior Balance Sensing unit) make use of a very small sensing unit to compute your heart rate irregularity and alerts you that you'll be revealing indications of rigidity (possibly before you even understand it).

By cautioning you you are having pressured, and mentor you in order to avoid strain prior to it commences, you are able to continue being a lot more concentrated, managed, and in a lot better state of minds. Loads of eating plan ideas ensure to get you thin, having said that they do that towards the hinderance of your psychological overall performance (biotechnology). The Bulletproof Food plan approach, on the other hand, was don't just intended to give you a lean, healthier body, however Also to get you a significant-working Mind.

These plants themselves (much like the organic pesticides learned on spinach and kale) or get introduced by mildew escalating on the plant, that is a identified trouble in the farming market. These contaminants give you Mind fog that puts a substantial problem on your own Mind's capability to execute at the extent you want it to.

This means that the liver converts the fats you take in into an Electrical power source named ketones so you no longer necessity carbohydrates to work. This is certainly wonderful in your brain simply because your Mind prefers ketones to accomplish precise responsibilities. Actually, whether or not your liver is not making ketones, your brain is likely to make some by by itself to maintain the overall health of synapses.

The Bulletproof Diet regime just isn't simply just your regular low-carb diet plan program that assists you crawl towards ketosis. biotech. A staple with the diet regime, Bulletproof Espresso, can kick you into ketosis considerably quicker than you might get there yourself. The medium-chain fatty acids in Upgraded XCT Oil and Mind Octane Oil can Furthermore aid in your ketone output.

Except you have in fact been residing under a rock, you have most likely listened to regarding the unfavorable wellness impacts of gluten (biotech). Gluten can result in getting out issues, target difficulties, and memory breakdown. Gluten triggers The body to elevate levels of inflammation, notably by forming cytokines, proteins which can be located in clientele with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, numerous sclerosis, and autism all neurological disorders.

Histamines absolutely are a neurotransmitter, which indicates they ship out messages between Your entire body along with your brain. Substantial histamine concentrations can result in complications, slumber troubles, and anxiousness, and you can get histamines not merely from a allergic reactions, but Similarly via foodstuff significantly aged, smoked, or dealt with foods - biotech. As the Bulletproof Diet regime supporters contemporary meat, eggs, and develop all small-histamine foods it could assist protect you from these difficulties.

Your brain utilizes Unwanted fat to recuperate and fix by itself, bringing about improved memory, greater cognitive competencies, and superior state of minds (biotech). Bulletproof's higher-Body fat diet regime (around 70% of working day-to-working day energy) supports a Bulletproof overall body plus a Bulletproof mind. Bulletproof intermittent fasting will assist you feel a buzz even though Your entire body remains in ketosis (fat burning manner) with Bulletproof Coffee and Brain Octane.

In fact, It really is probably the most powerful biohack ever. Possibly end every little thing you might be performing and take into account what you are grateful for, or generate your views about gratitude and forgiveness down within a journal (much like the five-Minute Journal). By executing this, you could raise your joy, recuperate far more very easily from pressure (I indicate, just simply how much worry does one have around from a anger and damage?), and wind up becoming additional economical at perform (biotech).

It also makes you Usually much more enjoyable. Neurofeedback is whenever you re-educate your Mind how you can react to various emotions. Cool, excellent? You have got EEG sensors positioned around your scalp, and check your brainwaves in various destinations. Then you certainly play a "Personal computer video game" using your brain, utilizing your Mind electrical ability to generate the movie match growth - biotech.

[wisepowder]

A Comprehensive Overview On Nootropics Supplements Phosphatidylserine

What is Phosphatidylserine?

Phosphatidylserine may sound like a complicated word, but in the real sense, it is one of the commonest compounds that offer nootropic benefits in the body. Having been discovered in the early 1940s by Howard A. Schneider and Jordi Folch, Phosphatidylserine powder (51446-62-9) has become more popular and is one of the world’s most sought after nootropic today.

You will be suprised to learn that Phosphatidylserine is an amino acid derivative and aminophospholipid that our bodies produce naturally. It is a phospholipid that makes up a massive part of the brain. So why would you need to supplement it? Most of the foods we take today may not offer sufficient Phosphatidylserine to the body.

Also, studies have shown that the Phosphatidylserine levels decrease as you age; hence, you have to keep yourself armed with the Phosphatidylserine best source. There are various reasons why you should be taking Phosphatidylserine, including for the proper functioning of the nerve cells in the brain. It also assists in the transmission of messages between them.

Phosphatidylserine as well works as a signaling agent for apoptosis. That is the process of cell death which contributes to an organism’s growth and development.

In the past Phosphatidylserine, was manufactured from cow brains until a health concern arose on its risk in causing infections like mad cow disease. Today, it is mostly made from cabbage or soy.

How does phosphatidylserine work?

So far, Phosphatidylserine has undergone extensive research indicating that it works through the nerve cell membranes. It assists in the optimization of the functions of the cell, including homeostatic, maintenance, and specialized processes that are unique to the nerve cell.

Phosphatidylserine and other phospholipids help in holding the cell membranes together. They are packed side to side, forming a two-layer structure that holds proteins and other membrane constituents in place. Studies done on rodents showed that Phosphatidylserine works by;

Rejuvenating adaptive behaviors, including learning.

It improves glucose utilization and synaptic efficiency in the body.

Reversal of the EEG patterns.

Works by reversing the nerve network decline.

It boosts the nerve transmitters, i.e., acetyl-choline, tyrosine hydroxylase activity, dopamine release, and catecholamine turnover.

It resets lagging circadian and estrus rhythms.

Phosphatidylserine is usually present in every cell type, and although it has proven to work best in the nerve cells, it also helps in improving one’s immunity. That is by facilitating the recycling of old cells. Usually, red blood cells become less rigid, and this makes them incapable of passing through the narrow capillaries, making them need replacement.

Consequently, membrane enzymes transfer Phosphatidylserine from its normal position, which is the inner half of the membrane to the outer half. That acts as a signal to the circulating immune cells to get rid of the aged red blood cells from circulation.

Phosphatidylserine has also been linked with membrane phenomena which are involved in the bone matrix formation, signal transduction in the heart, testicular function and secretion by the adrenal glands.

Does phosphatidylserine help you sleep?

Yes, phosphatidylserine help sleep. Sleep is one of the most valued gifts that you can give to your body. Wondering why? Good sleep leads to greater wellbeing, more happiness, lower disease rate, sharper mental capabilities, and less fatigue.

Although most of us yearn to have a sound sleep, not all of us can achieve that naturally. Today, almost six out of ten people are suffering from sleeplessness and insomnia for at least a few days a week globally.

The bad news is that abnormal sleep patterns could lead to a higher risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease and multiple types of cancer. It could also lead to lower testosterone output and a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.

Well, in a bid to get a cool and a longer nap many people are going for natural ways to improve their sleep quality including maintaining regular sleep times, making their rooms darker and sleeping in cooler rooms. The tricky part is that this may only work for a day and leave you glaring at the roof for the rest of the week. So what do you do?

The Phosphatidylserine sleep benefits are so substantial that you might forget you ever struggled to have a good nap. It does this through the Phosphatidylserine cortisol effect. Cortisol is a chemical produced by the adrenal glands in a circadian rhythm. That means that its production peaks in the morning and that’s what makes you wake up. In the evening, it gradually decreases, giving you some sound sleep.

However, due to the ups and downs in the world we live in today, cortisol levels could stay high for many people. Subsequently, there is desensitization in two parts of the brain; the hypothalamus and the hippocampus which act as cortisol’s shut off valves.

Once the desensitization takes place, the cortisol levels go high up. Phosphatidylserine has proven to re-sensitize the hypothalamus and the hippocampus, which in turn lower the cortisol levels back in line with the circadian rhythm.

What makes it a great option as a sleep supplement is that it is natural (it is not synthesized from human-made chemicals found in the lab). It also works through a natural mechanism which is the lowering of the cortisol levels. All this sets it apart from other human-made sleep medications that may only end up giving you severe side effects and also make you suffer from addiction.

Next time you feel like your sleep is playing games on you; you could try Phosphatidylserine for deep and refreshing sleep.

Is phosphatidylserine the same as phosphatidylcholine?

Both the Phosphatidylserine and Phosphatidylcholine are phospholipids that assist in the formation of the cell membrane.  That allows for the transfer of fat and water-soluble molecules hence keeping the membrane flexible, healthy, and fluid. In other words, these phospholipids help in keeping the cells healthy, which translates to healthy overall wellbeing.

Both of them share a function which is to aid in neurotransmitter production, which helps with memory and concentration. This role is very vital, especially as we age as it slows down the decline in the cognitive ability and the risk of dementia.

Although they sound similar, the Phosphatidylserine structure is different from that of Phosphatidylcholine. Phosphatidylcholine adds a positively-charged group that is choline to the phosphate head group of phosphatidic acid whereas phosphatidylserine is made of the phosphatidic acid and a negatively charged phosphate group attached to the serine at the hydroxyl end.

Phosphatidylserine only comprises about 10% of the total cell membrane phospholipids and is mostly situated in the inner monolayer. On the other hand, Phosphatidylcholine is one of the largest phospholipids found in the cellular membranes and could make up to 50% of the total membrane phospholipid composition. It is mostly found in the outer part of the membranes.

What foods are high in phosphatidylserine?

It is good to note that Phosphatidylserine is mostly found in the food that we eat. Some of the common Phosphatidylserine sources include; chicken heart, Atlantic mackerel, soy lecithin, cabbage, egg yolk, bovine brain, and Atlantic herring. If you are not a food enthusiast, then you could save yourself the hustle by buying Phosphatidylserine supplement.

Phosphatidylserine health benefits

Reverse the age-related mental decline

Aging is inevitable, but there is always something you can do to age gracefully. As age piles on us, our mental capability decreases. It is for such reasons that you have seen older adults struggle to live a healthy life. Luckily, you do not have to feel like you are powerless and can do nothing concerning aging.

With the help of Phosphatidylserine, you can improve your language skills, attention, and memory which may have reduced due to aging.

Improve athletic performance

If you are into cycling, jogging, training, or running for long distances, then you can admit that any product that promises to boost your performance could help you achieve your goals fast. In this case, Phosphatidylserine powder (51446-62-9) helps in reducing muscle soreness even after strenuous training. It does this by providing relief to the sore muscles and also reducing inflammation of the joints.

Additionally, Phosphatidylserine offers protection against the increase in the cortisol levels, which frequently occurs due to overtraining. Consequently, you are likely to enjoy more significant physical achievements without feeling all the pain and fatigue.

Helps with depression

Depression is one of the severe illnesses that many people around the globe suffer from. Sometimes it may be characterized by intense sadness and anxiety that seem to take away one’s purpose in living. Although there are many depression treatments, medication is not recommended and only comes as a last resort. What else could you use to reduce the symptoms and treat depression?

Phosphatidylserine is one of the natural supplements that you could use to fight depression. It is said to play a role in the regulation of one’s mood. In a study done on people over the age of sixty-five and who suffered from major depression, those that took Phosphatidylserine in combination with omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA three times daily for three weeks, observed improvement on the symptoms.

Aids in memory loss

One of the most devastating things one would undergo as you age is memory loss. It gets heartbreaking when you notice that you now forget even the obvious stuff like your name, what day of the week it is etc. What could you do to stave off memory loss?

Phosphatidylserine has been used in the past to slow age-related memory loss. In 2010, a study was conducted on seventy-eight older adults who had mild cognitive impairment. They were administered with Phosphatidylserine for six months. It was observed that those who had low memory scores experienced considerable improvement in their memory.

Helps in the management of ADHD

ADHD is a disorder that has an impact on the brain and one’s behavior. So far, there is no known cure, but there are several options that could help counter the hyperactive behavior. The Phosphatidylserine ADHD effect has helped in the management of its symptoms effectively.

When taken in combination with omega-3 fatty acids, Phosphatidylserine has proven to aid in the treatment of ADHD, especially in children. A study was done on two hundred children with ADHD, and they were assigned on a fifteen weeks treatment with Phosphatidylserine and omega-3 fatty acids. The results showed that they experienced a significantly higher reduction in impulsive behavior.

Improving thinking ability

Our thinking ability may sometimes become slow due to reasons like age, anxiety, and stress. That does not, however, mean that you sit there and watch your thinking skills and the efficiency of your brain go down the drain; there are ways you could deal with it.

One of the Phosphatidylserine benefits is that it enhances your thinking ability by improving your cognitive brain functioning and by sharpening your thinking skills too.

So if you are looking for a product that will help you with faster learning, sharper thinking, good memory and out of the box problem-solving, then you can trust in the Phosphatidylserine nootropic. It will make you feel like a genius in no time.

Aid in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive condition which leads to the degeneration and ultimate death of the brain cells. This disorder is known to cause dementia; a condition that leads to the decline in one’s thinking ability, behavioral and social skills that could result in the disruption in a person’s ability to function self-reliably.

While some of the symptoms include severe memory impairment and the inability to carry out everyday tasks, as usual, the Phosphatidylserine Alzheimer’s effect comes as a new dawn to patients suffering from it. The essential brain nutrient helps in improving some of the Alzheimer’s disease symptoms within six to twelve weeks of treatment.

It has, however, been observed that Phosphatidylserine works best in people with less severe symptoms. After the first sixteen weeks of treatment, this nootropic may not offer any more benefit on the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

How should I take phosphatidylserine?

What is the appropriate Phosphatidylserine dosage? Is there any risk of taking too much? These are some of the critical questions that many people ask. Since we have already dealt on the Phosphatidylserine benefits, let us learn a little more on how much of this supplement you should be taking every day.

The recommended Phosphatidylserine dosage is 100mg taken three times a day. However, you could play around with the dosage to know what works for you best. The 100mg should be your starting point as you gradually increase the dosage. That will help you understand your reaction towards it before testing the depth of the water with both feet.

Never take more than 500mg in a day as it may increase the chance of suffering from Phosphatidylserine side effects as rare and minor as they may seem.

Phosphatidylserine stack

You may decide to stack Phosphatidylserine with other nootropics to achieve better results. The most popular choices that people prefer to use are pramiracetam and Noopept. That is because they offer different effects from those that Phosphatidylserine give; hence, their combination could give very nice synergistic effects. You could, however, choose any other nootropic that suits you since Phosphatidylserine is safe and well-tolerated in the body.

If you stack Phosphatidylserine, then you may want to use less than 100mg especially if it synergizes well with the other nootropics.

Although some people stack Phosphatidylserine, it doesn’t mean that it is not potent on its own. You could use it purely on its own and still reap the fruits. To get the best out of it, do not take it only when you want to hack your brain, instead, use it with a long term goal of achieving the overall health of both the mind and the body.

What are the side effects of phosphatidylserine?

Phosphatidylserine is considered to be a safe nootropic as many people rarely react to soy-derived supplements. The Phosphatidylserine side effects are, therefore, less likely to occur. They may include;

Trouble while sleeping

Stomach upset

Gas

To prevent yourself from suffering from this, always take the right dosage and avoid drugs that interact with it, e.g., blood thinners, anti-inflammatory medicines, and performance-enhancing drugs or supplements.

Buy phosphatidylserine online

Getting the right Phosphatidylserine supplier can be a hustle, especially if quality is your thing. The fact that 85% of the supplements on the market contain additives makes it even harder to settle for any Phosphatidylserine manufacturer.

There is some little hope left, though. The legit Phosphatidylserine manufacturers that offer nothing else other than excellent quality. It is no wonder all the Phosphatidylserine reviews from our clients have been positive.

Additionally, buy phosphatidylserine supplements online comes with a bunch of benefits. Other than the convenience it will offer you; you can choose the quantity you want in a short period. Why walk around physical stores when your favorite supplement is a click away?

Conclusion

As seen in the article, Phosphatidylserine is no ordinary supplement. It is what every person should be taking for a longer and quality life. With all the benefits it brings on the table, it comes as a surprise that it does not offer all this at the expense of your body’s wellbeing. That means that with the correct dosage, you will never suffer from any adverse effect.

Furthermore, it has undergone a large number of studies; hence, you already know what to expect. Why not try it today and unleash the great potential in your overall health?

References

Kannan, Muthukumar; Riekhof, Voelker, Dennis R. (2015). “Transport of Phosphatidylserine from  Endoplasmic Reticulum to  Site of Phosphatidylserine Decarboxylase2 in Yeast”.  16 (2): 123–134.

Solomon TM, Leech J, DeBros G, Budson A,. A randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, , efficacy study of alpha BRAIN® administered orally. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2015;12(S1):P54.

EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies . “Scientific Opinion on health claims related to phosphatidyl serine, pursuant to Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) “. EFSA Journal. 8 (10): 1749.

Jäger R, Purpura M, et al. The effects of phosphatidylserine on the golf performance. Journal of the International Society of Sport Nutrition. 2007;4(1):23

[bukbot]

my landlord keeps chickens in the backyard. should I give them a message from you?

Relief seized me ever since I was at the garage sale at the vet was very easy to keep an egg in this photo, the other person’s EEG showed the unmodified stimuli, at the random people that were more likely to last long-term.

[passportcolor]

@onedayyoujustchange tagged me; thanks, dear :*!!

(Rules: tag 10 people you’d like to get to know better)

Relationship status: yeah is hard for me to make friends, so relationship status: very committed to watch tv all day with my cats.

Favorite color: PURPLE!

Pets: Erni (dog), Molly (cat), Shiloh (demon-cat), Chester (cat, the only male) Leah (cat)... sometimes I feel I am pet of my cats and my god’s sister.

Last song I listened to: Dancing in the Dark 

Favorite TV show: regular tv: TWD, friends, the Simpsons, Modern Family. On Netflix: Sense 8, Black Sails, Stranger Things, Grace & Frankie, Please Like Me, Voltron. And probably others that I’m either forgetting or letting out on purpose.

First fandom: The Walking Dead (first and only)

Hobbies: drawing, watching tv, take pictures of my cats, reading, messing around with my sister’s ukulele, sewing/crafting dolls but not as often as before.

Favorite book: a compilation of short stories by various authors, Pride & Prejudice, Howl’s moving castle, Eragon saga, an Ciruelo’s Dream Journal (but this one is an art book)

Worst thing you’ve ever eaten/tasted: I’m very picky about food, don’t really risk my tongue so little story: when I was in college and didn’t know at all how to cook, I tried, at my friend’s house, to cook me some scrambled eegs, we have the notion of how they should be made but in practice we kinda messed up, so I ended up eating burned chorizo with a-little-raw scrambled eggs and oil, and having the worst stomachache ever, it lasted two days!

Favorite place:  This is rather vague, isn't it? I guess Cancun specifically the beach near the water park, and Buenos Aires the park across the Colon theater. 

Oh now I have to tag... Sorry if I bother anyone!!

@wolffuchs @mb-urubuster @geektaire (for some reason you two: @calebtheloser @stardusted are in my list when I type @ so I tagged you but please forgive me if I’m bothering you or anything!!)

[brightlotusmoon]

Sneak Peak: The fifth “Lifegiver” story

Sneak peak of my TMNT fanfic “Oxygen And Spirit: Across The Universe” Part of a series that started with “Mikey The Lifegiver” which is on AO3 and FFnet and also here. Not connected with my other TMNT fic series, “Cold Fire Rising”

 Spirit And Oxygen: Across The Universe

Part One, Earth and Oxygen

“No, you’re not listening to me.” Don cradles his head in his hands and huffs, second cup of coffee halfway consumed. He tries to kick under the table for emphasis, but there’s no Mikey to kick him back.

“At least finish your bacon and then talk,” Leo pleads, “and then you can go back to his room and sit morosely on his bed.”

Sighing, Donnie throws his head back, wishing to science that he could just make it translatable. “Okay. Okay, I’ll start again. See…I created this holographic program. In which you and the holographic images can interact. You punch them, they punch you. Got that?”

“Sort of,” Raph says.

“Close enough. All right. So, you know that huge, gigantic tunnel that Mikey and Raph have been painting murals all over? The one Mikey’s been secretly using to train his skills outside the lair without you knowing?”

Leo sucks in a breath. “Wait, what?”

“…oops. Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it.” Donnie is feeling more and more snarky. “It’s just…you know the place, yes? That’s all you need to know.”

“We know the place.”

“Well, that is where the holographic projectors have been, and for the last two weeks, Mikey has been using it to improve that raw potential we’ve all been insulting him about. He keeps begging me to invent stronger opponents to test him. It’s been quite fun.”

“Yes, and what does that have to do with the gang war we waded into that resulted in Mikey lying in bed unconscious since yesterday?” Raphael snarls.

“Nothing…maybe a little.” Donatello sighs again. “Remember those moments when the three of us were down, and Mikey was still standing, and he went into literal full ninja warrior mode, silent and stealthy and faster than we’ve ever seen him? And the only reason he fell was because one giant bulky asshole slammed his head into an air conditioner corner, sliced open his thigh with a sword, and broke bones around his knee.”

His brothers nod, grimacing.

“The reason he was able to fight like a demon three times his skill was because he’s been feeding his potential. With me. Using holograms. Guys, he’s…growing up. Okay? He really is better than all of us combined. He just never got the chance to let it out. But with our…current circumstances…he forced himself to.”

Leo and Raph are staring at the kitchen table, pushing around their eggs and hashbrowns.

“We were really harsh with him before the battle.” Leo sounds petulant.

“Now, now,” a voice says, “Don’t with the guilt again.” And Karai folds her arms, leaning against the cabinet closest to the doorway. “I cooked that with love, boys, eat up.”

Raphael can not stop a vicious glare at his scientist brother. “Why you, though? Why’d he confide in you only?”

Donatello shuffles. “Mmmaybe it’s because I don’t hit him over the head as much? It’s because when he messes around in my lab it’s because he really is interested in what I’m working on…” As he trails off, Raph begins to breathe heavily. As he does so, Shinigami comes up next to him and begins to massage his shoulders.

“I had him in my arms,” Raph whispers. “He was babbling nonsense. His head was bleeding and his leg was bleeding and his knee was broken and he was panicking. He kept saying my name and he kept saying ‘bonfire water balloon skies’ and I didn’t--”

“Seizure, remember?” Shinigami murmurs. “His brain took a heavy injury and it caused severe aphasia before he fell unconscious. Not to mention blood loss. None of it was anyone’s fault.”

“I was hurt and I couldn’t get to him. I could’ve…I would’ve…”

He is cut off by Shini’s long fingernails digging into the base of his skull, pushing his head forward as she continues the massage. “Shut up, O Great Protector. He was holding his own, so was Karai, so was I. We all made the mistake of being distracted. Mikey got hurt. If any of you continue to blame yourselves, I’ll show you what my namesake really means.”

Shuddering, the three turtles scrape their plates clean.

...

Donatello is back in the lab, mixing more nutrient electrolyte solutions into IV bags, preparing a large bowl of cool water. He walks slowly across the lair, nudging Mikey’s door open with his shoulder.

April is sitting on the edge of the bed, wiping a wet cloth down the pale, motionless figure lying there, while Ice Cream Kitty leans forward in her bowl that is sitting near the pillow, doing the same with her tongue and paws. Mikey’s pallor is still awful. Leo and Raph donated all the blood Don would allow without them going into shock, but it had been just enough. He slides carefully to the table set up at the bedside, deposits the bowl and bags, and begins changing the IV bag before April even notices him.

“How long did you sleep last night?” she asks casually, wringing out her cloth and plopping it on the table next to the old bowl.

“Enough.” He adds a dose of Ativan to keep seizures at bay and to keep Mikey relaxed, then begins to palpate his bandaged head, trying to feel for the depression and skull fracture at the right temple.

“Tell me it was more than four hours.”

“Yes, April, it was more than four hours.”

She relaxes after an awkward pause, and goes back to massaging Mikey’s right hand. “Casey is on his way with more supplies from the school infirmary. Should we still worry about getting antibiotics?”

“Hopefully not. Has he moved at all? Anything? Anything at all?” Donnie tries to not sound desperate, but he catches the sad look April gives him.

I don’t want pity, I want my brother to be okay.

“No response to anything,” she says softly. “He’s pretty much shut down for the duration.”

Donnie’s gut drops and freezes a little. Okay. Okay. But he really really needs to look at brain activity. They don’t have the proper equipment but he can probably build something. He can’t ask their human friends to steal anything like a pricey EEG headband, but an EEG is the only thing he can think of. Perhaps he can build one, or even modify the machine he kept using on April, at least it shows something in the brain, right? As he dribbles and sponges cool water over his little brother’s plastron, he keeps thinking. He keeps thinking.

“Donnie?” April seems very close now, right next to his face, and he jumps when he realizes she is. “You’re thinking very hard about something. Can I help?”

Donatello glances at her, then at Mikey’s head, then back at her. “Oh. Ohhh. April! Yes! Yes you can! Um. Can you...can you look into his mind? You know, his brainwaves?”

She blinks. “I think so. Probably. Yeah. What am I supposed to look for?”

“Responses,” he says eagerly. Lights. Anything, anything that would indicate he’s able to react to stimuli, external or internal.”

“You mean...to make sure he’s still...still there.”

Don’s head bobbles. “Exactly.”

She takes a deep breath. “I think I can handle that. Anything for Mikey.”

Donnie bites his lip. It feels like one of his mantras lately. Anything for Mikey.

Anything, Mikey.

[ezatluba]

Study: EEG tests measure pain, may help researchers develop medication

By Allen Cone

Rather than utilizing smiley and sad faces to measure pain, researchers have developed an accurate way by checking brain activity via an EEG. 

Researchers have developed an accurate way to measure pain using brain activity compared with crude picture charts or poking animals, based on a study involving rats.

The precise measurement, utilizing electroencephalography, or EEG, should help in the development of new potential pain medication, according to researchers who presented their findings Monday at the annual convention of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego and published them Tuesday in the journal Scientific Reports.

"In spite of our increased knowledge of the biology, physiology and neural circuits of pain, little success has been achieved recently in developing new analgesic agents," the authors wrote.

And that's because of inaccurate ways to measure pain.

Patients usually are asked to determine the level of pain usuing row of numbered faces, with expressions from smiling to grimacing.

"Sadly, this scale of smiley faces, called the visual analogue scale, is the gold-standard pain-assessment tool," Dr. Carl Saab, an associate professor of neuroscience and neurosurgery at Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital, said in a press release. "Our goal is to associate specific brain activity with various scores on the numerical scale to make pain assessment more objective."

He said the goal is to help patients with chronic pain and their physicians "get into agreement about pain level so it is better managed and diagnosed, which may reduce the over-prescription of opioids."

The researchers developed an EEG-based test to objectively measure pain. The EEG measures brain activity using electrodes placed on the scalp in the form of oscillations or "waves" of a certain frequency.

In tests of 67 rats, researchers performed a computational analysis of waves from the "theta band."

The current method to measure pain and consequently the effectiveness of potential pain medications is to poke the animal's paw and see how quickly it moves its paw away.

"When I was a graduate student, I hated this test because it had nothing to do with clinical pain," said Saab, who is affiliated with Brown's Carney Institute for Brain Science. "Nobody pokes a patient with back pain. I'm just so happy that I beat this test, now we're working with something better."

The researchers examined three pain medications and compared their effectiveness in an animal model of sciatica. Used were the traditional behavior test, the EEG test and an analysis to determine blood concentration of the medications.

Lyrica, the brand name of the pain medication pregabalin, was first test. The second one was a promising pain medication in phase two clinical trials and the third was a medication with inconclusive effectiveness in earlier studies.

The theta wave measurement and behavior test gave similar results, Saab said.

But in a few experiments, including dose below the effective level of the first medication, the EEG test provided more accurate results. In indicating pain relief at a dose lower than the effective dose, the behavior test gave a false positive.

"The ability to detect false positive or false negative outcomes is crucial to the drug development process," the authors wrote.

Saab is now working to translate his brain-wave findings to patients by calibrating the EGG signatures of pain with the traditional smiley-face-based pain assessment tool.

Saab said his method can be especially helpful for patients with difficulty communicating, including young children. And he noted there is considerable interest in the tool for veterinary medicine.

[panagapnhs]

Fishes Introduction

By Novi Yus, Axel Geisslinger, Nick Hogg, and Etienne Loubens

Fish species were distributed unevenly along the course of the streams, reaching a maximum in shallow forest streams downstream of the waterfalls. Diversity of fish decreased up stream above the waterfalls. Shrimps are abundant above waterfalls and less so below. This might be related to the presence of predatory fish species. For example, upstream from the Teraja waterfall quite high shrimp population was observed, while fish population was extremely low. It is likely that we did not achieve a representative sampling of fish species, due to limited duration of fishing and also limited sampling (fishing) techniques. More surveys are needed to support the result of the first quick-look survey.

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Fishes and other aquatic animals

Different local water habitats were sampled with various types of nets. The main Teraja river is fed by several streams with waterfalls from the drainage area up to the watershed between Teraja Protection forest and Brunei national border. The forest beside the river is rich in vines and undergrowth, Plant debris litter the forest floor and many big logs have fallen across the river. The canopy is thick and continuous, the soil damp and sandy in most places. The water was clear but in some places slightly muddy from soil erosion. Waterfalls of up to 30 m height have created different types of pools, some rocky and fast flowing, others with sandy bottom and calm. One steep valley with a chain of cascading little waterfalls and rapids was encountered, which extends for more than a hundred meters.

Observations:

Fish species were found to be distributed unevenly along the course of the streams, reaching a maximum in shallow forest streams downstream of the waterfalls. Diversity of fish decreased up stream; the main barrier to upstream colonization of fish are the waterfalls, especially 30m high Beludok waterfall (elevation about 100m above sea level). Further downstream, in wider, deeper and calmer rivers the diversity again seems to decrease and one species seemed to be dominant here.

Shrimps are abundant above waterfalls and less so below. This might be related to the presence of predatory fish species. For example, upstream from the Teraja waterfall quite high shrimp population was observed, while fish population was extremely low.

It is likely that we did not achieve a representative sampling of fish species, due to limited duration of fishing and also limited sampling (fishing) technics.

Tentative identification of fishFamily: Cyprinidae

Genus: Rasbora

Species: Rasbora einthovenii (Bleeker)

Specimen: 1 young fish in Beludok waterfall first stop.

Description: A black longitudinal stripe from tip of snout to end of middle caudal rays on the sides of the body, the lateral stripe is iridescent blue-purplish; with dorsal fin, pectoral fin , anal and ventral fin yellowish orange; caudal peduncle bright orange.

Size: 6 cm.

Habitat: Midwater dweller. Indigenous; live in the forest stream. This fish is an inhabitant of acidic waters, such as this area of Teraja River.

Distribution: Thailand, Sumatra and Borneo.

Genus: Puntius

Species: Puntius binotatus (Cuvier and Valenciennes).

Specimen: young fish found at Beludok waterfall first stop, semi adult catch at Teraja waterfall first stop and second stop, also observed from above its appear on the Beludok stream third stop. This might be the commonest fishes on Teraja River, but need more data to support this.

Description: The young fish are rather attractive with slender body and scattered black markings on the lateral line and caudal peduncle; pectoral fin and dorsal fin are yellowish, anal fin is orange reddish, caudal fin dusky red with tinge dark margin.

The sub adult is silver grey with a distinct dark blotch beneath the dorsal fin, this dark blotch make this fish easily observed from above. In the large adult the blotch will lessen rather faint dark and smaller blotch on the lateral bar along the sides of the body and caudal peduncle. Have one pair of barbells in the rostrum and one pair in the maxilla.

Size: young fish 7 cm, sub adult fish 10-12 cm

Habitat: near-bottom to midwater dweller, they prefer to live in old ponds, stream and forest stream and swampy area. Indigenous

Distribution: Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia.

Genus: Puntius

Species: Puntius cf daruphani Smith

Specimen: catch a few specimen, released some and take the big one to Nic freshwater fish aquarium in Panaga.

Description: This fish has small hump at the snout; the colour is vary, the upper half is olive green with dorsal light brownish base, the lower half is silvery green with the scales has orange tinge. Scales present at the back and upper half have a dark brown base, first dorsal spine fin is dark on the margin and the rest is yellowish dusky; pectoral fin, ventral fin and anal fin is yellowish, caudal fin is yellow-greenish with darker margin. Anal fin is long reaching caudal fin. Barbels, 2 rostral, 2 maxilary.

Size: 10- 17 cm.

Habitat: Stream, river

Distribution: Thailand, Malaysia.

Family: Channidae

Genus: Channa

Species: Channa cf lucius (Cuvier and Valenciennes)

English name: Forest Snakehead

Specimen: juvenile in school and gather into a tight shoal

Description: A young specimen is brownish above, yellowish below and had lateral band running from snout, hind border of the eye to caudal peduncle.

Size: young 4-5 cm.

Habitat: Is pelagic fish, indigenous, found in the forest streams, lakes and ponds.

Is carnivorous fish, probably eating small shrimps which are abundant at the Teraja upper stream above the waterfall.

Distribution: Thailand, Jawa, Sumatra, Borneo, Island of Indo-Australian Archipelago, Indo-china, China

Family: Hemiramphidae

Genus: Hemiramphodon

Species: Hemiramphodon pogonognathus (Bleeker)

Specimen: 2 specimen catch at second stop in Teraja river, possible it juvenile at third stop in Beludok waterfall. Note, we observed this species also appear on several places at stream river.

Size: 6-8 cm

Description: Dusky above, silvery below, a dark bluish patch is present on the opercle, a few light blotches present on the mid lateral sides; the upper jaw is short and curved, a dark bluish line present on long lower jaw.

Habitat: live at small ditches, swamps, rivers and in turbid water with current. They swim on upper surface of the water near the bank.

Distribution: Sumatra, Banka, Biliton, Borneo

Results and comments

Species diversity of fish decreased up stream; the main barrier to upstream colonization of fish is waterfall, especially at Beludok waterfall (elevation about 100m above se a level). The present of shrimp in Beludok waterfall is quite high as oposite to fish who were nearly absent.

Upstream from the Teraja waterfall quite high shrimp population while fish population was extremily low and only unique fishes are found here, such as Forest Snakehead fishes.

Forest snakehead fish is found in young group of more than 20 fishes, at upstream area but not found in downstream river. They adapt very well to strong currents. As snakehead can have eegs in big numbers they might be a source of food for insect and shrimps in this area.

The other barrier from fishes diversity and abundance is the sudden rise in water level, after heavy rain. Since the Teraja river is fed by many small tributary streams. Novi and Jacqueline had a nightwalk the night before the research, at 16 April. Heavy rain up river from midday till night. We witnessed the high water level that reached up to 1-2 meter from their normal water level in some areas. Strong current and erosion made crossing the river quite dangerous. However in the morning the water was calm and water level had dropped to normal height. Is a drastic change on current and water level of the Teraja river.

We didn’t go to Beludok waterfall that night but this might have experienced similar conditions, although here the catchment area is significantly smaller. (see drainage map)

The low diversity and number of fishes could also be due to the river bottom condition where loose sandy gravel can easily carried away by water current, many juvenile and fish eggs might not survive. Although many crevices, fallen log and leaves could serve as hiding places and survive the current in deeper water the silt from muddy bottom could have contributed to the low fish diversity as well.

At wider, deeper and calmer rivers the size of the fish tend to be bigger as our speciments suggest. The first stop at Teraja river, were the river is wide, deep and calm we only encountered 8 specimens of 1 species, with variation in size. Further study will needed to determine possible domination of fishs species in certain areas.

The difficult access to the forest area and small size of most fish make it unattractive as an economic resourse of food fish. However the river near Teraja Longhouse is actively netted by villagers, Potentially there would be a source of fish for the freshwater aquarium trade.

There has not been much research on the freshwater fish in Brunei, and forest streams even less studied than brackish water and coastal resources. We had dificulty to find the book for identification purposes while the scientific names of the freshwater fishes worldwide keep changing.

Conclusions:

•More surveys are needed to support the result of the first quicklook survey. •Repeat the surveys on the same area of the river with different condition such as research at dry season might yield different results. •Web research and discussions with freshwater fish specialists should be encouraged. •Including the local people from the longhouse in the research will help local name identification. Variety of sample points (for fishes cachtment and netting) as local fisherman suggest, might increase the catch. •After consultation with local fisherman finetune fishing techniques. As large throw net proved not efficient in Beludok river.

References.

– Lim, Kelvin K. P. 2000. A guide to the freshwater fishes of Singapore

– Atack Katherine. 2006. A field guide to the fishes of Kuching rivers. Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.

– Ambak Mohammad Azmi, A. K., 1983. Mohammad Mohsin Freshwater fishes of Peninsular Malaysia. University pertanian Malaysia

– Inger, R. F. & Chin, P. K., 1990. The freshwater fishes of North Borneo.