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Kamrowski, R. L., Sutton, S. G., Tobin, R. C., & Hamann, M. (2014). Potential applicability of persuasive communication to light-glow reduction efforts: a case study of marine turtle conservation. Environ Manage, 54(3), 583–595.
Abstract: Artificial lighting along coastlines poses a significant threat to marine turtles due to the importance of light for their natural orientation at the nesting beach. Effective lighting management requires widespread support and participation, yet engaging the public with light reduction initiatives is difficult because benefits associated with artificial lighting are deeply entrenched within modern society. We present a case study from Queensland, Australia, where an active light-glow reduction campaign has been in place since 2008 to protect nesting turtles. Semi-structured questionnaires explored community beliefs about reducing light and evaluated the potential for using persuasive communication techniques based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to increase engagement with light reduction. Respondents (n = 352) had moderate to strong intentions to reduce light. TPB variables explained a significant proportion of variance in intention (multiple regression: R (2) = 0.54-0.69, P < 0.001), but adding a personal norm variable improved the model (R (2) = 0.73-0.79, P < 0.001). Significant differences in belief strength between campaign compliers and non-compliers suggest that targeting the beliefs reducing light leads to “increased protection of local turtles” (P < 0.01) and/or “benefits to the local economy” (P < 0.05), in combination with an appeal to personal norms, would produce the strongest persuasion potential for future communications. Selective legislation and commitment strategies may be further useful strategies to increase community light reduction. As artificial light continues to gain attention as a pollutant, our methods and findings will be of interest to anyone needing to manage public artificial lighting.
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Kohyama, J. (2009). A newly proposed disease condition produced by light exposure during night: asynchronization. Brain Dev, 31(4), 255–273.
Abstract: The bedtime of preschoolers/pupils/students in Japan has become progressively later with the result sleep duration has become progressively shorter. With these changes, more than half of the preschoolers/pupils/students in Japan recently have complained of daytime sleepiness, while approximately one quarter of junior and senior high school students in Japan reportedly suffer from insomnia. These preschoolers/pupils/students may be suffering from behaviorally induced insufficient sleep syndrome due to inadequate sleep hygiene. If this diagnosis is correct, they should be free from these complaints after obtaining sufficient sleep by avoiding inadequate sleep hygiene. However, such a therapeutic approach often fails. Although social factors are often involved in these sleep disturbances, a novel clinical notion--asynchronization--can further a deeper understanding of the pathophysiology of these disturbances. The essence of asynchronization is a disturbance in various aspects (e.g., cycle, amplitude, phase and interrelationship) of the biological rhythms that normally exhibit circadian oscillation, presumably involving decreased activity of the serotonergic system. The major trigger of asynchronization is hypothesized to be a combination of light exposure during the night and a lack of light exposure in the morning. In addition to basic principles of morning light and an avoidance of nocturnal light exposure, presumable potential therapeutic approaches for asynchronization involve both conventional ones (light therapy, medications (hypnotics, antidepressants, melatonin, vitamin B12), physical activation, chronotherapy) and alternative ones (kampo, pulse therapy, direct contact, control of the autonomic nervous system, respiration (qigong, tanden breathing), chewing, crawling). A morning-type behavioral preference is described in several of the traditional textbooks for good health. The author recommends a morning-type behavioral lifestyle as a way to reduce behavioral/emotional problems, and to lessen the likelihood of falling into asynchronization.
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Lerchl, A., Schindler, C., Eichhorn, K., Kley, F., & Erren, T. C. (2009). Indirect blue light does not suppress nocturnal salivary melatonin in humans in an automobile setting. J Pineal Res, 47(2), 143–146.
Abstract: In 2007, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified shift work that involves circadian disruption as being probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A). In this context, light exposure during the night plays a key role because it can suppress nocturnal melatonin levels when exposures exceed a certain threshold. Blue light around 464 nm is most effective in suppressing melatonin because of the spectral sensitivity of melanopsin, a recently discovered photopigment in retinal ganglion cells; the axons of these cells project to the suprachiasmatic nucleus, a circadian master clock in the brain. Due to advances in light technologies, normal tungsten light bulbs are being replaced by light-emitting diodes which produce quasi-monochromatic or white light. The objective of this study was to assess whether the light-melanopsin-melatonin axis might be affected in automobiles at night which employ the new generation diodes. To this end, we have tested in an experimental automobile setting whether indirect blue light (lambda(max) = 465 nm) at an intensity of 0.22 or 1.25 lx can suppress salivary melatonin levels in 12 male volunteers (age range 17-27 years) who served as their own controls. Daytime levels were low (2.7 +/- 0.5 pg/mL), and night-time levels without light exposure were high (14.5 +/- 1.1 pg/mL), as expected. Low-intensity light exposures had no significant effect on melatonin levels (0.22 lx: 17.2 +/- 2.8 pg/mL; P > 0.05; 1.25 lx: 12.6 +/- 2.0 pg/mL; P > 0.05). It is concluded that indirect blue light exposures in automobiles up to 1.25 lx do not cause unintentional chronodisruption via melatonin suppression.
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Martinez-Nicolas, A., Ortiz-Tudela, E., Madrid, J. A., & Rol, M. A. (2011). Crosstalk between environmental light and internal time in humans. Chronobiol Int, 28(7), 617–629.
Abstract: Daily exposure to environmental light is the most important zeitgeber in humans, and all studied characteristics of light pattern (timing, intensity, rate of change, duration, and spectrum) influence the circadian system. However, and due to lack of current studies on environmental light exposure and its influence on the circadian system, the aim of this work is to determine the characteristics of a naturalistic regimen of light exposure and its relationship with the functioning of the human circadian system. Eighty-eight undergraduate students (18-23 yrs) were recruited in Murcia, Spain (latitude 38 degrees 01'N) to record wrist temperature (WT), light exposure, and sleep for 1 wk under free-living conditions. Light-exposure timing, rate of change, regularity, intensity, and contrast were calculated, and their effects on the sleep pattern and WT rhythm were then analyzed. In general, higher values for interdaily stability, relative amplitude, mean morning light, and light quality index (LQI) correlated with higher interdaily stability and relative amplitude, and phase advance in sleep plus greater stability in WT and phase advance of the WT circadian rhythm. On the other hand, a higher fragmentation of the light-exposure rhythm was associated with more fragmented sleep. Naturalistic studies using 24-h ambulatory light monitoring provide essential information about the main circadian system input, necessary for maintaining healthy circadian tuning. Correcting light-exposure patterns accordingly may help prevent or even reverse health problems associated with circadian disruption.
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Reiter, R. J., Tan, D. - X., Korkmaz, A., & Ma, S. (2012). Obesity and metabolic syndrome: association with chronodisruption, sleep deprivation, and melatonin suppression. Ann Med, 44(6), 564–577.
Abstract: Obesity has become an epidemic in industrialized and developing countries. In 30 years, unless serious changes are made, a majority of adults and many children will be classified as overweight or obese. Whereas fatness alone endangers physiological performance of even simple tasks, the associated co-morbidity of obesity including metabolic syndrome in all its manifestations is a far more critical problem. If the current trend continues as predicted, health care systems may be incapable of handling the myriad of obesity-related diseases. The financial costs, including those due to medical procedures, absenteeism from work, and reduced economic productivity, will jeopardize the financial well-being of industries. The current review summarizes the potential contributions of three processes that may be contributing to humans becoming progressively more overweight: circadian or chronodisruption, sleep deficiency, and melatonin suppression. Based on the information provided in this survey, life-style factors (independent of the availability of abundant calorie-rich foods) may aggravate weight gain. Both epidemiological and experimental data support associations between disrupted physiological rhythms, a reduction in adequate sleep, and light-at-night-induced suppression of an essential endogenously produced molecule, melatonin. The implication is that if these problems were corrected with life-style changes, body-weight could possibly be more easily controlled.
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