Abbott, S. M., Malkani, R. G., & Zee, P. C. (2018). Circadian disruption and human health: A bidirectional relationship. Eur J Neurosci, in press.
Abstract: Circadian rhythm disorders have been classically associated with disorders of abnormal timing of the sleep-wake cycle, however circadian dysfunction can play a role in a wide range of pathology, ranging from the increased risk for cardiometabolic disease and malignancy in shift workers, prompting the need for a new field focused on the larger concept of circadian medicine. The relationship between circadian disruption and human health is bidirectional, with changes in circadian amplitude often preceding the classical symptoms of neurodegenerative disorders. As our understanding of the importance of circadian dysfunction in disease grows, we need to develop better clinical techniques for identifying circadian rhythms and also develop circadian based strategies for disease management. Overall this review highlights the need to bring the concept of time to all aspects of medicine, emphasizing circadian medicine as a prime example of both personalized and precision medicine.
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Ahmed, A. K., & Sadik, M. A. (2018). Study of sky brightness profiles of Baghdad and Karbala cities in Iraq. International Journal of Science and Nature, 9(1), 18–24.
Abstract: This study was used two detectors only i.e., the human eye and photometer of Sky Quality Meter (SQM-LU) during the time of sunrise and sunset. The human eye used to determine the moon's phase. The measurements of sky brightness, by using SQM-LU, performed via two locations that covered Baghdad and Karbala in Iraq from December 2016 through March 2017 intermittently. The research focused only on light perceived by detectors and not how it happens. The aim of research is to find a mathematical formula (i.e . brightness contrast) between the sky brightness against the solar altitude by taking moon illumination as the standard reference. Analytical software based on the Python's PyEphem astrometry library was developed to calculate the solar altitude at the two locations. Finally, the formula of sky brightness obtained from this work is an important key that contributed to finding the simulated sky brightness, when the sun's altitude is known.
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Ahn, H., Lee, S., & Jo, E. (2018). Assessment on Lighting Management Zones for Light pollution in Gwangju Metropolitan City. 한국태양에너지학회 학술대회논문집, .
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Al Zahrani, M. H., Omar, A. I., Abdoon, A. M. O., Ibrahim, A. A., Alhogail, A., Elmubarak, M., et al. (2018). Cross-border movement, economic development and malaria elimination in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. BMC Med, 16(1), 98.
Abstract: Malaria at international borders presents particular challenges with regards to elimination. International borders share common malaria ecologies, yet neighboring countries are often at different stages of the control-to-elimination pathway. Herein, we present a case study on malaria, and its control, at the border between Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Malaria program activity reports, case data, and ancillary information have been assembled from national health information systems, archives, and other related sources. Information was analyzed as a semi-quantitative time series, between 2000 and 2017, to provide a plausibility framework to understand the possible contributions of factors related to control activities, conflict, economic development, migration, and climate. The malaria recession in the Yemeni border regions of Saudi Arabia is a likely consequence of multiple, coincidental factors, including scaled elimination activities, cross-border vector control, periods of low rainfall, and economic development. The temporal alignment of many of these factors suggests that economic development may have changed the receptivity to the extent that it mitigated against surges in vulnerability posed by imported malaria from its endemic neighbor Yemen. In many border areas of the world, malaria is likely to be sustained through a complex congruence of factors, including poverty, conflict, and migration.
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Alaasam, V. J., Duncan, R., Casagrande, S., Davies, S., Sidher, A., Seymoure, B., et al. (2018). Light at night disrupts nocturnal rest and elevates glucocorticoids at cool color temperatures. J Exp Zool A Ecol Integr Physiol, 329(8-9), 465–472.
Abstract: Nighttime light pollution is quickly becoming a pervasive, global concern. Since the invention and proliferation of light-emitting diodes (LED), it has become common for consumers to select from a range of color temperatures of light with varying spectra. Yet, the biological impacts of these different spectra on organisms remain unclear. We tested if nighttime illumination of LEDs, at two commercially available color temperatures (3000 and 5000 K) and at ecologically relevant illumination levels affected body condition, food intake, locomotor activity, and glucocorticoid levels in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). We found that individuals exposed to 5000 K light had higher rates of nighttime activity (peaking after 1 week of treatment) compared to 3000 K light and controls (no nighttime light). Birds in the 5000 K treatment group also had increased corticosterone levels from pretreatment levels compared to 3000 K and control groups but no changes in body condition or food intake. Individuals that were active during the night did not consequently decrease daytime activity. This study adds to the growing evidence that the spectrum of artificial light at night is important, and we advocate the use of nighttime lighting with warmer color temperatures of 3000 K instead of 5000 K to decrease energetic costs for avian taxa.
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