Modafinil, a novel compound for treating excessive sleepiness, potently increases wakefulness in laboratory rodents, cats, monkeys and humans. Although its mechanism of action is unknown, modafinil appears to be unlike classic stimulants. We investigated this generality by testing the selectivity of this compound for wake-promoting effects (e.g., relative to locomotor effects) and homeostatic s...

Tip60 is a histone acetyltransferase (HAT) enzyme that epigenetically regulates genes enriched for neuronal functions through interaction with the amyloid precursor protein (APP) intracellular domain. However, whether Tip60-mediated epigenetic dysregulation affects specific neuronal processes in vivo and contributes to neurodegeneration remains unclear. Here, we show that Tip60 HAT activity med...

Wing flapping is one of the most widespread propulsion methods found in nature; however, the current understanding of the aerodynamics in bird wakes is incomplete. The role of the unsteady motion in the flow and its contribution to the aerodynamics is still an open question. In the current study, the wake of a freely flying European starling has been investigated using long-duration high-speed ...

Sleep is an evolutionarily conserved process that is linked to diurnal cycles and normal daytime wakefulness. Healthy sleep and wakefulness are integral to a healthy lifestyle; this occurs when an organism is able to maintain long bouts of both sleep and wake. Homer proteins, which function as adaptors for group 1 metabotropic glutamate receptors, have been implicated in genetic studies of slee...

The double journey (work and study) may result or aggravate health problems, including sleep disturbances, as observed in previous studies with high school students. The aim of this study is to analyze the sleep-wake cycle and perceived sleepiness of working college students during weekdays. Twenty-three healthy college male students, 21-24 years old, working during the day and attending classe...

Koi carps frequently swim in burst-and-coast style, which consists of a burst phase and a coast phase. We quantify the swimming kinematics and the flow patterns generated by the carps in burst-and-coast swimming. In the burst phase, the carps burst in two modes: in the first, the tail beats for at least one cycle (multiple tail-beat mode); in the second, the tail beats for only a half-cycle (ha...

It is unknown whether nonparallel pancreatic enzyme output occurs under basal conditions in humans. We aimed to determine whether the circadian or wake-sleep cycle influences the relationship among pancreatic enzymes or between pancreatic secretory and jejunal motor activity. Using orojejunal multilumen intubation, we measured enzyme outputs and proximal jejunal motility index during consecutiv...

This study quantifies sex differences in the diurnal and circadian variation of sleep and waking while controlling for menstrual cycle phase and hormonal contraceptive use. We compared the diurnal and circadian variation of sleep and alertness of 8 women studied during two phases of the menstrual cycle and 3 women studied during their midfollicular phase with that of 15 men. Participants underw...

The human circadian pacemaker modulates our desire and ability to fall asleep at different times of day. To study this circadian component of sleep tendency, we have analyzed the sleep-wake patterns recorded from 15 free-running subjects in whom the sleep-wake cycle spontaneously desynchronized from the circadian rhythm of body temperature. The analysis indicates that the distribution of sleep ...

Endogenous circadian clocks are robust regulators of physiology and behavior. Synchronization or entrainment of biological clocks to environmental time is adaptive and important for physiological homeostasis and for the proper timing of species-specific behaviors. We studied subjects in the laboratory for up to 55 days each to determine the ability to entrain the human clock to a weak circadian...