Journal article
Application of a Limit-Cycle Oscillator Model for Prediction of Circadian Phase in Rotating Night Shift Workers
JE Stone, XL Aubert, H Maass, AJK Phillips, M Magee, ME Howard, SW Lockley, SMW Rajaratnam, TL Sletten
Scientific Reports | NATURE PORTFOLIO | Published : 2019
Open access
Abstract
Practical alternatives to gold-standard measures of circadian timing in shift workers are needed. We assessed the feasibility of applying a limit-cycle oscillator model of the human circadian pacemaker to estimate circadian phase in 25 nursing and medical staff in a field setting during a transition from day/evening shifts (diurnal schedule) to 3–5 consecutive night shifts (night schedule). Ambulatory measurements of light and activity recorded with wrist actigraphs were used as inputs into the model. Model estimations were compared to urinary 6-sulphatoxymelatonin (aMT6s) acrophase measured on the diurnal schedule and last consecutive night shift. The model predicted aMT6s acrophase with an..
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Funding Acknowledgements
We thank Megan Mulhall, Saranea Ganesan, Jessica Papaleo, Matthew McLaren, Aaron Johnson, Kaitlyn Crocker, Niamh McDonald, Emma Giliberto and Trisha D'Lima from the Sleep and Circadian Medicine Laboratory, Monash University for their assistance with data collection. We thank Mark Salkeld at the Adelaide Research Assay Facility for conducting the aMT6s radioimmunoassays. We thank Dr. Glenn Eastwood, Helen Young, Dr. Graeme Hart and the staff of the Intensive Care Unit at Austin Health for their support. This research was supported by the Coorperative Research Centre for Alertness, Safety and Productivity and by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship.