Spinocerebellar ataxia.......

Spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) is one of a group of genetic disorders characterized by slowly progressive incoordination of gait and often associated with poor coordination of hands, speech, and eye movements. Frequently, atrophy of the cerebellum occurs.

As with other forms of ataxia , SCA results in unsteady and clumsy motion of the body due to a failure of the fine coordination of muscle movements, along with other symptoms.

The symptoms of the condition vary with the specific type (there are several), and with the individual patient. Generally, a person with ataxia retains full mental capacity but may progressively lose physical control.

There is no known cure for spinocerebellar ataxia, which is a progressive disease (it gets worse with time), although not all types cause equally severe disability.

Sleep disorder: sleepwalking.....

Sleepwalking (also called somnambulism or noctambulism) is a parasomnia where the sufferer engages in activities that are normally associated with wakefulness while he or she is asleep or in a sleep-like state. Sleepwalking is usually defined by or involves the person affected apparently shifting from his or her prior sleeping position and moving around and performing normal actions as if awake (cleaning, walking and other activities). It is inexact to assume that somnambulists are unconscious during their nocturnal sleepwalking episodes. They are simply not conscious of their actions on a level where memory of the sleepwalking episode can be recalled , and because of this, unless the sleepwalker is awakened or aroused by someone else, this sleep disorder can go unnoticed. Sleepwalking is more commonly experienced in people with high levels of stress, anxiety or psychological factors and in people with genetic factors (family history), or sometimes a combination of both.

A common misconception is that sleepwalking is acting out the physical movements within a dream, but in fact, sleepwalking occurs earlier on in the night when rapid eye movement (REM), or the "dream stage" of sleep, has not yet occurred.

My favourite F1 team: Mclaren Mercedes Benz

McLaren is one of the most successful teams in Formula One, having won over 160 races, 12 Drivers' Championships and 8 Constructors' Championships. Autosport judges McLaren to have "bigger, more sophisticated" technical resources than any other team and a resultant higher development rate throughout a season.

In 1998 the McLaren was able to regularly challenge for Grand Prix victories, winning nine grands prix that year. Häkkinen won the Drivers' Championship in 1998, scoring 100 points, and McLaren took the Constructors' Championship in 1998. Häkkinen took the title again in 1999, but the season was more difficult for the team who lost the Constructors' Championship to Ferrari despite an injured Schumacher.

Since 2000, McLaren has struggled somewhat to regain its place at the top of Formula One , partly due to a perceived lack of pace and reliability from the Mercedes-Benz engine and McLaren did not win the driver and constructor's Championship until 2008. In year 2008, Going into the final round of the season in Brazil , Hamilton had a seven point lead over Massa. As long as he finished in the top five, he would win the championship regardless of where Massa finished. With Massa taking pole, Hamilton could only qualify 4th and Kovalainen 5th. By the final lap of the race, Hamilton had been overtaken by Sebastian Vettel and with Massa having already won the race, his sixth position would mean that Hamilton would finish runner-up. However Toyota's Timo Glock , who had stayed out on dry tyres despite the falling rain, was driving slowly enough for Hamilton to overtake him at the final few corners. Crossing the line in the required fifth, Hamilton became the youngest ever, first black man and first McLaren driver in 9 years to win the Formula One Driver's Championship.

My favourite anime: Bleach

Bleach is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tite Kubo . Bleach follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki after he accidentally obtains the power of a shinigami from Rukia Kuchiki. A shinigami is a Japanese death personification similar to the Grim Reaper . Gaining these abilities forces him to take on the duties of defending humans from evil spirits and guiding departed souls to the afterlife.

The story opens with the sudden appearance of Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki in Ichigo Kurosaki's bedroom. She is surprised at his ability to see her, but their conversation is interrupted by the appearance of a "hollow", an evil spirit. After Rukia is severely wounded while trying to protect Ichigo, she attempts to transfer half her powers to Ichigo in order to let him face the hollow on equal footing. Ichigo instead unintentionally absorbs almost all her energy, allowing him to defeat the hollow with ease. The next day Rukia appears in Ichigo's classroom as a seemingly normal human, and informs Ichigo that his absorption of her powers has left her stranded in the human world until she recovers her strength. In the meantime Ichigo shelters Rukia in his home and takes over her job as a Soul Reaper, battling hollows and guiding lost souls to Soul Society.

After a few months of this arrangement, in the sixth volume of the series, Rukia's Soul Reaper superiors find out about her giving her powers away (which is illegal in Soul Society) and send a detachment to arrest her, and sentence her to death. Ichigo is unable to stop Rukia's capture, but with the help of several of his classmates who also possess spiritual abilities and ex-Soul Reaper and captain Kisuke Urahara, he sets off for the Soul Reaper base, located in the afterlife realm known as Soul Society. Once there, Ichigo and company battle against the elites of the Soul Reaper military, and are ultimately successful in halting Rukia's execution.

It is then revealed that Rukia's execution and Ichigo's rescue attempt were both manipulated by Sōsuke Aizen, a high ranking Soul Reaper previously believed to be murdered, as part of a far-reaching plot to take control of Soul Society. Aizen betrays his fellow Soul Reapers and allies himself with the hollows, becoming the main antagonist of the series, and Ichigo teams up with his former enemies in Soul Society after learning that the next step in Aizen's plan involves the destruction of his hometown.

introduction.....

Yo!!!!!!!!!!... i am Ooi Ziun Gie....i am from perlis....the smallest n most wonderful state in malaysia... Basically...i am a shy boy lo.... I am relatively poor lo compare to other guys in my class... Oh ya...i like to eat broccoli...and yoghurt.... I dont like oily food.... Actually i dont really like jogging lo but i like cycling..Besides..i like to watch anime such as Bleach, fullmetal alchemist, Gundam, detective conan, dragon ball, slam dunk( when i was small), Death notes...etc........Em....i donno wat to write already la... seriously........ aiya...chin chai la......no need to write more about myself....my essay very teruk la....better dont malukan myself...wakakakakakakakakakaka.....

How Scratching An Itch Affects The Brain

Using imaging technology for the first time to investigate the phenomenon, US researchers have revealed what goes on in the brain when we scratch, giving new clues about why the behaviour brings relief and is hard to stop.

The study is the work of researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina, and is published in the 31st January early online issue of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

Lead author and dermatologist specializing in itch-related conditions, Dr Gil Yosipovitch said:"It's important to understand the mechanism of relief so we can develop more effective treatments.""For some people, itch is a chronic condition that affects overall health," explained Yosipovitch.

He and his colleagues wrote that imaging studies had looked at how the brain reacts to pruritis or itching conditions, but not what happens when the behavioural response, scratching, is going on.The researchers recruited 13 healthy participants to undergo functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a type of scan where you can see different areas of the brain light up when the volunteer is doing different things, for instance when using limbs, thinking or talking.A small brush was used to scratch participants on the lower leg for 30 seconds, then stopped for 30 seconds, then started again, and so on, for five minutes altogether.

The researchers found, to their surprise, that during the 30 seconds of scratching time, parts of the brain normally active when aversive emotions and memories are experienced, became signiificantly less active.The parts of the brain showing reduced activity during scratching were the anterior cingulate cortex, which is linked with aversion to unpleasant sensory stimuli, and the posterior cingulate cortex, which is associated with memory. Lowest activity in these areas coincided with times when the participants felt the scratching to be most intense.Yosipovitch said:"We know scratching is pleasurable, but we haven't known why. It's possible that scratching may suppress the emotional components of itch and bring about its relief."He said sometime patients find intense scratching, sometimes so hard that the skin bleeds, is the only way to relieve chronic itching."This is the first real scientific evidence showing that itch may be inhibited by scratching," said Yosipovitch.He was keen to point out that scratching is not recommended because it damages the skin, but it is important to find out what is going on when people feel relief from scratching so new treatments can be developed, such as drugs that target the relevant part of the brain to produce the same effect.

As well as finding that some parts of the brain became less active during scratching, Yosipovitch and colleagues found that other parts became more active. This included activtation of both sides of the secondary somatosensory cortex, which is involved in pain, and the prefrontal cortex, which is linked to compulsive behaviour.Other parts of the brain that also became bilaterally more active during scratching were the insular cortex, the inferior parietal lobe, and the cerebellum.

The activation of the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with compulsive behaviour, might explain the compulsive nature of scratching behaviour - the urge to keep on scratching, said the researchers.There is one limitation to the study which could be significant, and that is the scratching was not done when itch was present.

The scientists are carrying on with the research to see if they get the same results with chronic itch. They suggested that:"Future studies that investigate the central effects of scratching in chronic itch conditions will be of high clinical relevance."The researchers said it was important to find new treatments because moderate to severe itch bothers many people, for instance anyone with eczema, which in American alone affects 30 million people.Another group that will benefit from new treatments are over 40 per cent of kidney dialysis patients, who have a 17 per cent higher risk of dying, probably because of lack of sleep, if they have itch.

My favourite car...RD 55

U know wat is RD 55? hehehe...RD means research & development...y 55? 55 means not too high and not too low..in other words...means balance. Our life is like that, not always happy and not always sad...Good day gives u hapiness; bad day gives u experience .Both r very essential.........wakakakakakak....Well ,this is my family car....not my car!!.... It is Toyota Vios...silver colour...1.5 L , with VVTi engine( 109 hp).. Every morning...i drive RD55 to campus..Besides, i also fetch 5 friends....luckily they r not so heavy....if not...my RD 55 have to work hard...Even though my car looks small from outside, inside is spacious and enough for 6 ppl to sit..including driver ... as saying goes.......dont judge book by looking at the cover!!!!!!!!!wakakakaaka... I like RD 55 bcoz it is very powerful.haha...For me...it's just like a mini F1 car... Sometimes....i treat it like sport car and drive it very fast without looking at the speedometer.. When my car suddenly becomes quite, oh oh ohhhhhhhhh....i know tat i already drive more than the limit.... This is bcoz....when i drive too fast....all the passengers in my car will get scared n will keep quite....especially Kala( my sister, i call her nenda., i am her cucunda)......... hehehe.. She is my alarm la....Whenever i drive fast...she will ask...r u rushing..or r u stress...? bcoz sometimes..when i feel stress...i will drive fast to release stress....heheheh... no matter wat happen... RD 55 is the best car for me.....wakakakakakaka

What are the benefits of eating yogurt?

How important is yogurt in our diets? Well, those of us who have been to the grocery store lately have noticed that yogurt truly overpowers the dairy isle. With so many choices, many of us end up standing in front of this product for twenty minutes in order to decide on the healthiest choice. However, for those of us who don’t incorporate yogurt into our diets, here are several reasons why this delicious snack is beneficial to our health.

First of all, yogurt is made of milk and by consuming milk we get a dose of animal protein in our diet. A six ounce serving contains about nine grams of protein. Other beneficial ingredients in yogurt include calcium, magnesium, potassium, vitamin B-2, and vitamin B-12. Something new that yogurt consumers may have noticed recently is the word “Probiotics.” Probiotics are friendly bacteria which are naturally present in our digestive system. What this bacterium does is it aids in boosting our immune system and promotes a healthy digestive tract. With all of these exceptional ingredients, yogurt should be atop of any consumer’s shopping list.

Another great benefit of yogurt is a healthy intestinal system. The active cultures that are present in yogurt have been proven to help with certain gastrointestinal conditions. Some of the conditions which a steady consumption of yogurt improved include constipation, diarrhea, lactose intolerance, colon cancer, and inflammatory bowel disease. Other benefits of yogurt include a decrease in vaginal infections, stronger immune system, stronger bones, and weight loss. It has also been suggested that two to three serving of dairy per day can reduce the chances of developing high blood pressure by fifty percent. With all of these health benefits, it is no wonder that many people chose to snack on yogurt.