Association between light exposure at night and manic symptoms in bipolar disorder: cross-sectional analysis of the APPLE cohort

ABSTRACT

Previous studies have found that keeping the room dark at night was associated with a decrease in manic symptoms for patients with bipolar disorder (BD). However, the association between light at night of real-life conditions and manic symptoms is unclear. We investigated the association between bedroom light exposure at night and manic symptoms in BD patients. One-hundred and eighty-four outpatients with BD participated in this cross-sectional study. The average light intensity at night during sleep was evaluated using a portable photometer for seven consecutive nights. Manic symptoms were assessed using the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), and scores ≥5 were treated as a “hypomanic state.” The median (interquartile range) YMRS score was 2.0 (0–5.0), and 52 (28.2%) participants were in a hypomanic state. The prevalence of a hypomanic state was significantly higher in the participants with an average light intensity at night exposure of ≥3 lux than in those with <3 lux (36.7% versus 21.9%; P = .02). In multivariable logistic regression analysis adjusted for BD type, depressive symptoms, sleep duration, and daytime physical activity, the odds ratio (OR) for a hypomanic state was significantly higher for the participants with an average light intensity at night exposure of ≥3 lux than for those with <3 lux (OR: 2.15, 95% confidence interval: 1.09–4.22, P = .02). This association remained significant at the cutoff value of YMRS score ≥6 (OR: 2.51, 95% confidence interval: 1.15–5.46; P = .02). The findings of this study indicate bedroom light exposure at night is significantly associated with manic symptoms in BD patients. Although the results of this cross-sectional investigation do not necessarily imply causality, they may serve to inform beneficial nonpharmacological intervention and personalized treatment of BD patients.     

Circannual Growth Rhythm in a Brown Alga,Pterygophora californica

A circannual rhythm was found in the kelp Pterygophora californica which forms a new blade with a free running period of 7 ? 8 months under constant conditions. Individual plants exposed to cycles of daylength with T = 12, 6, or 3 months performed 1, 2, or 4 growth cycles, respectively, in one calendar year showing the entrainment of the endogenous circannual rhythm. The annual growth cycle also followed a phase shift of the annual cycle of daylength (T = 12 months) by 3 or 6 months.     

Actigraphic estimates of sleep and the sleep-wake rhythm,and 6-sulfatoxymelatonin levels in healthy Dutch children

ABSTRACT

Sleep and the sleep-wake rhythm are essential for children’s health and well-being, yet reference values are lacking. This study therefore aimed to assess actigraphic estimates of sleep and the 24-h sleep-wake rhythm, as well as 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6s) levels in healthy children of different age groups. Additionally, relationships between the outcomes and sex, highest parental educational level (as an indication of socioeconomic status (SES)), and body-mass-index (BMI) were explored. In this cross-sectional study, healthy Dutch children (2–18 years) wore an actigraph (GT3x) for 7 consecutive days, collected first-morning void urine and completed a sleep log and sociodemographic questionnaire. Actigraphically estimated sleep variables were sleep onset latency (SOL), sleep efficiency (SE), total sleep time (TST), and wake after sleep onset (WASO). Non-parametric sleep-wake rhythm variables were intradaily variability (IV); interdaily stability (IS); the activity counts and timing of the least active 5-h period (L5counts and midpoint) and of the most active 10-h period (M10 counts and midpoint); and the relative amplitude (RA), i.e. the ratio of the difference and the sum of M10 and L5 counts. Finally, creatinine-corrected aMT6s levels were obtained by isotope dilution mass spectrometry. Effects of age group (preschool 2–5 years/school-aged 6–12 years/teenager 13–18 years), sex, highest parental educational level and BMI (Z-scores) were explored. Ninety-four children participated, equally divided across age groups (53% boys). Teenagers slept less, but more efficiently, than younger children, while their 24 h sleep-wake rhythm was the least stable and most fragmented (likely due to fragmentation of daytime activity). Additionally, aMT6s levels significantly declined over the age groups. Children from highly educated parents had lower sleep efficiency, but a more stable sleep-wake rhythm. Finally, sex or increase in BMI was not associated with any of the outcomes in this study. In conclusion, this study provides reference values of healthy children across different age groups and different sociodemographic factors. In the future, this information may help to better interpret outcomes in clinical populations.     

Mice Reach Higher Visual Sensitivity at Night by Using a More Efficient Behavioral Strategy

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Effects of ambient temperature on avian incubation behavior

Ambient temperature is commonly thought to influence avian incubation behavior. However, results of empirical studies examining correlationsbetween ambient temperature and bout duration are equivocal.We propose that these equivocal results can be partly explainedby developing a conceptual understanding of how we should expecttemperature to influence incubation. We demonstrate why linearcorrelation analyses across a wide range of temperatures canbe inappropriate based on development of an incubation model for small birds that incorporates how ambient temperature influencesboth embryonic development and adult metabolism. We found supportfor predictions of the model using incubation data from orange-crownedwarblers (Vermivora celata) in Arizona. Both off- and on-boutduration were positively correlated with ambient temperaturebetween 9° and 26°C, but unrelated to ambient temperature<9° and 26-40°C. Bout durations declined as ambienttemperature approached or exceeded 40°C. Incubating orange-crowned warblers appeared to avoid bouts off the nest <7 min andbouts on the nest <20 min. Time of day, duration of theprevious bout, and variation among nests all explained variationin both on- and off-bout duration. Although we found supportfor the general shape of the incubation model, temperature still explained only a small portion of the overall variation in on-and off-bout duration. Results of previous studies were generallyconsistent with the model for off-bout duration; most studiesin colder environments reported positive correlations withtemperature, and the one negative correlation reported was from a hot environment. However, the relationships between on-boutduration and temperature reported in previous studies wereless consistent with our model and our data. Although somediscrepancies could be explained by considering our model,some studies reported negative correlations in cold environments.The effect of ambient temperature on duration of on-bouts probablydiffers among species based on the amount of fat reserves females typically carry during incubation and the extent of male incubationfeeding. Additional studies of the effects of temperature onavian incubation will help improve the general model and ultimatelyaid our understanding of energetic and ecological constraintson avian incubation.     

Ladies last: diel rhythmicity of adult emergence in a parasitoid with complementary sex determination

Protandry, the earlier adult emergence of males, is explained as either an adaptive strategy maximizing male mating opportunities at the same time as minimizing female pre‐reproductive mortality, or as an incidental by‐product of sexual dimorphism fuelled by selection for other life‐history traits. Adult emergence sequences are monitored of broods of the gregarious larval endoparasitoid Cotesia glomerata L. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) undergoing pupal development under different temperature regimes. As a haplodiploid species with single‐locus complementary sex determination, gender in C. glomerata is determined by the genotype at one sex locus. Haploids are always male, whereas diploids are female when heterozygous but male when homozygous at the sex locus. Sibling mating promotes homozygosity and thus the production of diploid males. Diploid males are produced at the expense of females, and impose a genetic burden on individuals and populations, despite their exceptional fertility in C. glomerata. Emergence of broods is typically completed within 2 days. Irrespective of temperature, males emerge earlier and within a shorter time interval than females, and a majority of the males in a cluster emerge before the first female. The implications of an incomplete temporal segregation of the sexes on the incidence of inbreeding in C. glomerata are discussed in the light of its sex determination mechanism and its patterns of mating, host exploitation and natal dispersal.     

High temperature and oxygen supplementation can mitigate the effects of hypoxia on developmental stability of bilateral traits during incubation of broiler breeder eggs

Hypoxia strongly affects embryonic development during the pre-hatch period. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of oxygen supplementation (O) and a 38.5°C high temperature (HT) at high altitude (HA, 1720 m) on morphological traits during a pre-hatch period and on relative fluctuating asymmetry (relative FA) and allometric growth during an early post-hatch period in broilers. A total of 720 eggs were obtained from a 45-week-old Ross 308 broiler breeder flock raised at sea level (2 m). The eggs were divided into six incubation condition (IC) groups and were incubated at HA. O groups were exposed to 23.5% O₂ for 1 h daily from either days 0 to 11 (O_0–11), days 12 to 21 (O_12–21) or days 18 to 21 (O_18–21) of incubation. HT groups were exposed to 38.5°C daily from either days 12 to 21 (HT_12–21) or days 18 to 21 (HT_18–21) of incubation. A control was maintained at 37.8°C and 21% O₂. The hatched chicks were raised for 6 days at HA. Embryo/chick and beak lengths and head diameter were measured during pre- and post-hatch periods. The face, middle toe and shank lengths were measured for each chick. The relative asymmetry (RA), mean RA (MRA) and allometric growth of the lengths were computed and the existence of FA was demonstrated. The IC significantly affected the embryo length, with embryos of the O_0–11 group shorter than embryos of the other O groups. Chicks were longer in the O and HT groups than those in the control, except for the O_0–11. We found significant interactions between the IC and each development period for beak length. During the post-hatch period, the head diameter of the O_0-11 was significantly smaller than that of the other groups, but not in O_12–21. The interactions among IC, age and sex were significant for the RA of the face and middle toe lengths and for MRA. All the examined bilateral traits were evaluated as allometric growth. The FA for bilateral traits was determined in both sexes. The right (R) – left (L) and IR-Ll were the lowest in females for face length and in males for shank length from the O_18–21 and in males for middle toe length from the O_0–11 and HT_18–21 groups. Therefore, the effects of factors such as HT and O₂ could mitigate the adverse effects of HA-induced hypoxia on optimal developmental stability of bilateral traits of broiler.