In the last decade, sleep spindles have attracted steadily increasing attention. This interest is motivated by the many intriguing relationships between spindles and various diseases (e.g., schizophrenia, Parkinson, Alzheimer, autism, mental retardation), recovery processes (e.g., post brain stroke), and cognitive faculties (e.g., memory consolidation, intelligence, dream recall, sleep preservation). Nonetheless, a methodological wall has impeded the study of sleep spindles. Their investigation rests heavily on our ability to reliably and consistently identify spindle patterns from background EEG activity, a task involving many obstacles, including: a fuzzy definition of spindles, low inter-expert agreement on their scoring, lack of consensus on standard techniques for their automated detection, low reproducibility of observed characteristics and correlates, unavailability of large, standardized, high-quality databases, and inconsistencies in the methods used to evaluate the performance of automated detectors. The primary aims of this research topic were to bring together world-class researchers on a project designed to facilitate exchanges on methodological difficulties encountered in assessing sleep spindles and to promote standardized spindle-related resources. In preparing their contributions, authors were encouraged to use existing – or to propose new – publicly available resources for assessing sleep spindles. To allow fair and accurate comparison of reported results, the authors were also encouraged to validate their tools on a common benchmark. A database containing expert spindle scoring (i.e., the Montreal Archive of Sleep Studies) was made publicly available for that purpose.

In the last decade, sleep spindles have attracted steadily increasing attention. This interest is motivated by the many intriguing relationships between spindles and various diseases (e.g., schizophrenia, Parkinson, Alzheimer, autism, mental retardation), recovery processes (e.g., post brain stroke), and cognitive faculties (e.g., memory consolidation, intelligence, dream recall, sleep preservation). Nonetheless, a methodological wall has impeded the study of sleep spindles. Their investigation rests heavily on our ability to reliably and consistently identify spindle patterns from background EEG activity, a task involving many obstacles, including: a fuzzy definition of spindles, low inter-expert agreement on their scoring, lack of consensus on standard techniques for their automated detection, low reproducibility of observed characteristics and correlates, unavailability of large, standardized, high-quality databases, and inconsistencies in the methods used to evaluate the performance of automated detectors. The primary aims of this research topic were to bring together world-class researchers on a project designed to facilitate exchanges on methodological difficulties encountered in assessing sleep spindles and to promote standardized spindle-related resources. In preparing their contributions, authors were encouraged to use existing - or to propose new - publicly available resources for assessing sleep spindles. To allow fair and accurate comparison of reported results, the authors were also encouraged to validate their tools on a common benchmark. A database containing expert spindle scoring (i.e., the Montreal Archive of Sleep Studies) was made publicly available for that purpose.

The leading reference on electroencephalography since 1982, Niedermeyer's Electroencephalography is now in its thoroughly updated Sixth Edition. An international group of experts provides comprehensive coverage of the neurophysiologic and technical aspects of EEG, evoked potentials, and magnetoencephalography, as well as the clinical applications of these studies in neonates, infants, children, adults, and older adults. This edition's new lead editor, Donald Schomer, MD, has updated the technical information and added a major new chapter on artifacts. Other highlights include complete coverage of EEG in the intensive care unit and new chapters on integrating other recording devices with EEG; transcranial electrical and magnetic stimulation; EEG/TMS in evaluation of cognitive and mood disorders; and sleep in premature infants, children and adolescents, and the elderly. A companion website includes fully searchable text and image bank.

The relationship between sleep and storytelling is an ancient one. For centuries, sleep has provided writers with a magical ingredient – a passage of time during which great changes miraculously occur, an Orpheus-like voyage through the subconscious daubed with the fantastic. But over the last ten years, our scientific understanding of sleep has been revolutionised. No longer is sleep viewed as a time of simple rest and recuperation. Instead, it is proving to be an intensely dynamic period of brain activity: a vital stage in the re-wiring of memories, the learning of new skills, and the processing of problems and emotions. How will storytelling respond to this new and emerging science of sleep? Here, 14 authors have been invited to work with key scientists to explore various aspects of sleep research: from the possibilities of ‘sleep engineering’ and ‘overnight therapies’, to future-tech ways of harnessing sleep’s problem-solving powers, to the challenges posed by our increasingly 24-hour lifestyles. Just as new hypotheses are being put forward, old hunches are also being confirmed (there’s now a scientific basis for the time-worn advice ‘to sleep on a problem’). As these responses show, sleep and the spinning of stories are still very much entwined. Featuring scientific contributions from: Prof Russell G. Foster, Isabel Hutchison, Dr. Simon Kyle, Dr. Penny Lewis, Dr. Paul Reading, Stephanie Romiszewski, Prof Robert Stickgold, Prof Manuel Schabus, Prof Ed Watkins, Prof Adam Zeman, Dr. Thomas Wehr. This project was supported by the Wellcome Trust.

The purpose of this manual is to provide clear and helpful information for maintaining gravel roads. Very little technical help is available to small agencies that are responsible for managing these roads. Gravel road maintenance has traditionally been "more of an art than a science" and very few formal standards exist. This manual contains guidelines to help answer the questions that arise concerning gravel road maintenance such as: What is enough surface crown? What is too much? What causes corrugation? The information is as nontechnical as possible without sacrificing clear guidelines and instructions on how to do the job right.

The classic work on the evaluation of city form. What does the city's form actually mean to the people who live there? What can the city planner do to make the city's image more vivid and memorable to the city dweller? To answer these questions, Mr. Lynch, supported by studies of Los Angeles, Boston, and Jersey City, formulates a new criterion—imageability—and shows its potential value as a guide for the building and rebuilding of cities. The wide scope of this study leads to an original and vital method for the evaluation of city form. The architect, the planner, and certainly the city dweller will all want to read this book.

Popular Mechanics inspires, instructs and influences readers to help them master the modern world. Whether it’s practical DIY home-improvement tips, gadgets and digital technology, information on the newest cars or the latest breakthroughs in science -- PM is the ultimate guide to our high-tech lifestyle.

Studies of mechanisms in the brain that allow complicated things to happen in a coordinated fashion have produced some of the most spectacular discoveries in neuroscience. This book provides eloquent support for the idea that spontaneous neuron activity, far from being mere noise, is actually the source of our cognitive abilities. It takes a fresh look at the coevolution of structure and function in the mammalian brain, illustrating how self-emerged oscillatory timing is the brain's fundamental organizer of neuronal information. The small-world-like connectivity of the cerebral cortex allows for global computation on multiple spatial and temporal scales. The perpetual interactions among the multiple network oscillators keep cortical systems in a highly sensitive "metastable" state and provide energy-efficient synchronizing mechanisms via weak links. In a sequence of "cycles," György Buzsáki guides the reader from the physics of oscillations through neuronal assembly organization to complex cognitive processing and memory storage. His clear, fluid writing-accessible to any reader with some scientific knowledge-is supplemented by extensive footnotes and references that make it just as gratifying and instructive a read for the specialist. The coherent view of a single author who has been at the forefront of research in this exciting field, this volume is essential reading for anyone interested in our rapidly evolving understanding of the brain.

The Sumerians, the pragmatic and gifted people who preceded the Semites in the land first known as Sumer and later as Babylonia, created what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man, spanning the fifth to the second millenniums B.C. This book is an unparalleled compendium of what is known about them. Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world. "There are few scholars in the world qualified to write such a book, and certainly Kramer is one of them. . . . One of the most valuable features of this book is the quantity of texts and fragments which are published for the first time in a form available to the general reader. For the layman the book provides a readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture. For the specialist it presents a synthesis with which he may not agree but from which he will nonetheless derive stimulation."—American Journal of Archaeology "An uncontested authority on the civilization of Sumer, Professor Kramer writes with grace and urbanity."—Library Journal