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To investigate clinical and video-polysomnography (VPSG) findings of hallucinatory experiences in patients suffering from disorders of arousal (DOA) in the absence of other pathologies.The authors retrospectively reviewed the records of 370 adults with DOA. Thirty (8.1%) patients concomitantly reported complex nocturnal visual hallucinations. VPSG recordings were scrutinized, and motor behavioral and electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns were classified according to previous descriptions of DOA.Thirty DOA patients reported seeing images of objects, people, and animals; either distorted, static, or mobile. The images disappeared with increased illumination in 80% of patients, and 23.3% reported preceding dream imagery. In addition to the classical DOA patterns on VPSG, a distinct pattern of behavioral and EEG manifestation associated with complex hallucinatory episodes was identified in 16 (53.3%) DOA patients. This consisted of low-voltage mixed-frequency EEG activity before eye opening that persisted while patients were observed staring or visually tracking before the onset of motor behavior.A novel, distinct behavioral and EEG pattern in patients with DOA and history of reported complex nocturnal visual hallucinations was identified. This may represent a unique phenotype of dissociation between sleep states that merits further investigation.

Scheme for Pd is a newly released open-source external for Pure Data, enabling scripting Pd with s7 Scheme Lisp. In this experience report, the author introduces Scheme for Pd and demonstrates its use for scheduling and sequencing musical events in s7 Scheme.

Degree apprentices (DAs) undertake an exciting, alternative route to academic qualifications, combining real employment with University study. Here, we discuss their education in ‘Quality Improvement’ at WMG, focusing on the development of statistical expertise in Year 2 of their programme to procure real improvements in manufacturing and service operations. We show how the preparation for these in Year 1 and the further extension of these in Year 3, interleaved with work-based projects, ensure that DAs can make a significant impact during their apprenticeships. This provides a rapid return on investment for employers, and recognition and faster career progression for DAs.

Engineering gives rise to some of the most vibrant and fast-paced industries in the world; yet, these industries and innovations can exact a heavy price, impacting people and the planet in the procurement of profits. Growing awareness of environmental issues and concerns over the cumulative environmental impact of extraction, manufacturing and transport have provoked increasing demands for accountability and responsibility; there is a groundswell of opinion that industries must be more transparent. The innovation of new, more sustainable practices cannot be done in isolation: practitioners must work with other professionals, if the needs of all stakeholders are to be respected and embraced. To address contemporary challenges and create a more sustainable world, graduates must know whom to speak with, why and about what. As a key step towards this, we present a framework to provide a holistic perspective on the intersections of the various value chains that obtain in engineering, manufacturing and product development; this framework makes explicit the many paths through which products and services are created and developed, through what we term ‘innovation trajectories’; and the (artificial and natural) contexts from which these draw; this in turn helps to identify key partners from professions and stakeholder groups. Knowing whom one needs to engage with and why directly supports softer skills that are an essential foundation of an effective professional engineering practice. Thus, we also consider this framework a useful mechanism to inform the discussion around employability and professional competence.

Unlike sleep-walkers, patients with rapid-eye-movement-behaviour disorder (RBD) rarely leave the bed during the re-enactment of their dreams. RBD movements may be independent of spatial co-ordinates of the ‘outside-world’, and instead rely on (allocentric) brain-generated virtual space-maps, as evident by patients’ limited truncal/axial movements. To confirm this, a semiology analysis of video-polysomnography records of 38 RBD patients was undertaken and paradoxically restricted truncal/thoraco-lumbar movements during complex dream re-enactments demonstrated.

Obstructive sleep apnea is linked to cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders and dementia. The precise nature of the association between respiratory events in obstructive sleep apnea, cortical or subcortical arousals, and cognitive, autonomic and oxidative stress consequences remains incompletely elucidated. Previous studies have aimed to understand the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea and arousal patterns, as defined by the cyclic alternating pattern, but results have been inconsistent, in part likely due to the presence of associated comorbidities. To better define this relationship, we analysed cyclic alternating patterns in patients with obstructive sleep apnea without any additional comorbidities. We identified 18 adult male, non-obese subjects with obstructive sleep apnea and no other comorbidities or medication history, who underwent whole-night electroencephalography and polysomnography. Cyclic alternating pattern analysis was performed and verified by certified somnologists. Pairwise linear regression analysis demonstrated an inverse relationship between obstructive sleep apnea severity and cyclic alternating pattern subtype A1, and a direct correlation with cyclic alternating pattern subtype A3. Cyclic alternating pattern subtypes A1 prevail in milder obstructive sleep apnea phenotype, whilst cyclic alternating pattern subtypes A2 and A3 overcome among moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea patients. The milder obstructive sleep apnea group also presented higher sleep efficiency, and increased percentages of non-rapid eye movement stage 3 and rapid eye movement sleep, as well as longer cyclic alternating pattern sequences in N3, while severe obstructive sleep apnea patients spent more time in lighter sleep stages. These results imply/suggest a balance between cyclic alternating pattern's adaptive and maladaptive arousal processes in obstructive sleep apnea of differing severities. In milder obstructive sleep apnea (apnea-hypopnea index < 20), sleep continuity may be reinforced by cyclic alternating pattern subtype A1, whereas in more severe obstructive sleep apnea, decompensation of these sleep-stabilizing mechanisms may occur and more intrusive cyclic alternating pattern fluctuations disrupt sleep circuitry.

Our interest here lies in supporting important, but routine and time-consuming activities that underpin success in highly distributed, collaborative design and manufacturing environments; and how information structuring can facilitate this. To that end, we present a simple, yet powerful approach to team formation, partner selection, scheduling and communication that employs a different approach to the task of matching candidates to opportunities or partners to requirements (matchmaking): traditionally, this is approached using either an idea of ‘nearness’ or ‘best fit’ (metric-based paradigms); or by finding a subtree within a tree (data structure) (tree traversal). Instead, we prefer concept lattices to establish notions of ‘inclusion’ or ‘membership’: essentially, a topological paradigm. While our approach is substantive, it can be used alongside traditional approaches and in this way one could harness the strengths of multiple paradigms.

To successfully rise to the challenges of contemporary physical and social contexts, and thus secure a more sustainable world, (process) engineering (under)graduates must learn to engage effectively with other professionals. This demands that we structure learning opportunities that make explicit with whom engineers need to engage and promote softer skills that form an essential foundation of effective professional engineering practice. As a step towards this, we present a workspace that provides a holistic perspective on the intersections of the various value chains that obtain in manufacturing and process industries; this framework helps to identify key partners from professions and stakeholder groups. We also show how this framework informs the discussion around employability and professional competence.

This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the author. Researchers can access this thesis by asking their local university, institution or public library to make a request on their behalf. Monash staff and postgraduate students can use the link in the References field.