Profile: Institute of Chronobiology Education & Research (June 2016 - June 2019)

Institute of Chronobiology Education & Research (ICER)  is completing 3 years next month. Though modest and low profile yet, we are committed to the chosen path of education, research and consultancy in chronobiology.

The projects undertaken by us was presented at various platforms and were appreciated as well but still we are waiting to get funding for either of our projects.

Since March 2018, Late Prin. B. V. Foundation at SP College campus is firmly associated with us and providing all the infrastructural facilities for courses, workshops and experimentation.

Here is the compiled profile of the work done so far and ongoing as well as prospective activities.

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Institute of Chronobiology Education & Research

(जैव-चक्रीय आवर्तन प्रशिक्षण आणि संशोधन संस्था)

161A, Modibaug, Ganeshkhind Road, Shivajinagar, Pune 411016

Tel No: 25519099, 8888810554     Email: duraphe@gmail.com

Chronobiology is a multidisciplinary branch of science dealing with study of biological rhythms. The free-running biological rhythms reflect the endogenous mechanisms of cyclic temporization whose expression is morphologically seen as an internal clock called body clock.

All levels of biological integration ranging from ecosystem to sub-cellular structures exhibit rhythms with diverse frequencies. Periods of most of the documented biological rhythms match with that of any one of geophysical cycles present in the nature.

Due to technology dependent round the clock work culture of humans, the entire ecosystem is facing unprecedented survival threat. Our most of the lifestyle diseases are invariably associated with altered biological clock mechanism. Hence understanding chronobiological principles and devising strategies for diagnosis and treatment of circadian dysfunction is relevant like never before.

Institute of Chronobiology Education & Research is working for popularizing the subject by providing academic courses for students and lifestyle management workshops for the professionals.

Year of inception – 2016

Type – Proprietor firm

Scope – Teaching / Research / Consultancy in Chronobiology

Affiliation – Indian Society for Chronobiology (Since March 2019)

Director – Prashant S. Duraphe, PhD

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Publications

Refereed Journals

None

Refereed Conference Proceedings

·        Ankita AS. Galinde, Aishwarya V. Bhurke, Prashant S. Duraphe (2019); Development of nasal sensors for nasal cycle characterization- Studying the ultradian biological rhythm. International Symposium on Biological Rhythms- 11^th -13^th March 2019, Ch. Charan Singh University, Meerut, India.

·    Ankita Galinde, Prashant S. Duraphe (2018); - Standardization of nasal cycle by temperature based nasal sensor. - World Ayurved Congress and Arogya Expo. 14^th -17^th December 2018, Gujarat University Convention and Exhibition Center, Ahmedabad, India.

·    Ankita Galinde, Prashant S. Duraphe (2018); Development of nasal sensors for nasal cycle characterization- Studying the ultradian body clock - World Congress on Chronomedicine- 17^th -19^th November 2018- King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, India.

Contributed Presentations

·     Invited talk on ‘Standardization of nasal cycle by temperature based nasal sensor’ at World Ayurved Congress and Arogya Expo, Gujarat University Convention and Exhibition Center, Ahmedabad, India 2018.

·        Invited talk on ‘Chronobiology to Chronomedicine’ at training program in Traditional medicine and Integrative health organized by Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Savitribai Phule Pune University, India 2018

  

Students’ achievements at various platforms

1) Development of Nasal sensors for nasal cycle characterization (Ankita Galinde)

1^st prize in oral presentation at Design Innovation Center, SPPU 2018

Best oral presentation medal at World Congress on Chronomedicine, Lucknow 2018

2) Development of thermistor based breathing sensor (Aishwarya Bhurke)

1^st prize in poster presentation at IIT Powai, 2014

3) Characterization of clock gene Per1 expression in leukocytes (Bhavishya Sarma)

1^st prize in poster presentation at A.Nagar College, 2014

Completed undergraduate projects

1) Study and analysis of circadian rhythms: Effect on physiological & biochemical parameters in humans

Marziyah Mahadwala (2013)

2) Development of thermistor based breathing sensor

Aishwarya Bhurke (1^st prize in poster presentation at IIT Powai, 2014)

3) Characterization of clock gene Per1 expression in human leukocytes

Bhavishya Sarma (1^st prize in poster presentation at A.Nagar College, 2014)

4) Characterization of clock gene Per1 expression in human hair follicles

Tanmayi Naik (2015)

5) Malignancy inducing internal time tracking genes –Literature review

Sumedha Bhosale, Shraddha Chavan (2016)

6) Autorhythmometry of Body temperature, Nasal cycle, Blood pressure, Pulse rate, Lung capacity, Sleep-wake cycle  

Ankita Galinde, Jaee Ghawali, Aditi Karanjakar, Mithilesh Gidage (2016)

7) Correlation of alcohol addiction / menstrual cycle / bipolar disorder and chronotype                   

Abhishek Kulkarni, Ankita Galinde, Nikhila Kulkarni (2016)

Completed postgraduate projects

1) Development of nasal sensors for nasal cycle characterization

Ankita Galinde (1^st prize in oral presentation at Design Innovation Center, SPPU 2018, Best oral presentation medal at World Congress on Chronomedicine, Lucknow 2018, Poster presentation at International Symposium on Biological Rhythms, Meerut, 2019)

2) Correlation of chronotype with psychiatric disorders and circadian rhythm analysis by actigraphy assessment

Nikhila Kulkarni (2018)

3) Temporal expression analysis of Cryptochrome and Octopamine receptor genes in Helicoverpa armigera

Minal Ayachit (2018)

Current projects

·         Analysis of daily rhythmicity in onion peel cell size

Variation in cell size under DD/DL/LL conditions at given temperature and season.

·         Rhythmic behavior of eclosion pattern in fruit fly

Variation in eclosion pattern of Drosophila melanogaster under DD/DL/LL conditions.

·        Correlation of Chronotype and Prakriti type

Development of online questionnaires for chronotype

(https://forms.gle/DWnsE1jrJ3mKmyrT6) 

and Pakriti type (https://forms.gle/wFyuLcNdAg1oVCR17) 

to generate enough data for validation of novel concept of ChronoPrakriti.

·         Characterization of phytomelatonin from Ayurvedic formulations

Isolation and characterization of phytomelatonin from traditional sleep inducing Ayurvedic formulations.

·         Chronotyping of type 2 diabetic patients

Correlation of chronotype with known cases of diabetes mellitus.

·         Development and Calibration of thermistor based / pressure based nasal sensor

Development of nasal sensor for standardization of nasal cycle so as to establish ultradian rhythm analysis as a diagnostic tool for internal clock dysfunction.

Prospective projects

·         Circadian rhythmicity in gut, salivary and skin microbiome

·         Correlation of Chronotype / Prakriti type / Enterotype

·         Standardization of chronotype questionnaire for specific age groups / diseases

·         Standardization of nasal cycle in control population

·         Development of nasal cycle as a diagnostic tool for neurodegenerative disorders

Training courses

Certificate courses

·         Introductory course in Chronobiology

·         Basic course in Chronobiology

·         Advanced course in Chronobiology

Workshops / Seminars

·         Hands-on activities for school students

·         Seminar for School / College faculties

·         Chronotherapeutics for professionals

Elective courses designed for various life science streams

·         Animal Chronobiology

·         Plant Chronobiology

·         Microbial Chronobiology

·         Ecological Chronobiology

·         Chronobiotechnology

·         Clinical Chronobiology

Outreach activities for popularization of Chronobiology

·         Monthly Newsletter

Know Thou Biological Clock

·         Monthly open forum

Chronobiology Saturday Club

·         Monthly / Customized lifestyle management workshops

Its time to tune your ChronoPrakriti

Link for registration: https://forms.gle/b1XZpVi5cYZkHH9i6

What is Jet Lag? Causes, Symptoms, & Treatments for Jet Lag

Everyday nearly 2 million people board planes to travel to destinations far from their homes. Many of these people will cross multiple time zones ending up in new locations many hours ahead or behind of what the traveler is used to.

Considering our long history as a people, rapid travel is a very new development. One in which people's biological makeup is still having difficulty adjusting to. Many travelers experience difficulty sleeping and trouble staying awake or alert when they arrive at a new location. This common occurrence is known as jet lag.

What is Jet Lag

Jet lag is a physiological condition that disrupts a person's sleep due to rapid travel across multiple time zones (usually 2 or more) and causes an imbalance to the traveler's circadian rhythm.

Your circadian rhythm is an ingrained biological clock that regulates periods of sleep and wakefulness. The circadian rhythm also influences other biological factors such as body temperature, times for eating, and the regulation of certain hormones. These functions are calibrated by a group of cells called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) located in the hypothalamus.

The SCN is connected to the optic nerves and senses changes in daylight that help it regulate certain functions of the body. It uses the presence (or lack) of daylight as it's primary measurement in balancing these functions. It tells us that when there is daylight, that it's time to be awake, and when it is dark, it's time to be asleep. Your circadian rhythm is set to match the environment in which you live in.

When traveling long distances over short periods of time, your circadian rhythm is slow to adjust to the new cycles of daylight and darkness. Your body wants to sleep when it's night back home, and to be awake when it's daytime back home. Jet lag manifests when your internal clock is out of sync with your current location's external clock.

Jet lag only occurs when traveling in westward or eastward directions two or more time zones away. Jet lag does not occur when traveling northward or southward (even over long distances) unless multiple time zones are crossed.

Jet Lag Symptoms

Symptoms of jet lag can vary due to factors such as direction of travel, and how many time zones crossed. The more time zones crossed the more severe your symptoms will become due to the vast time differences between your new destination and the location of your home.

Depending on the direction of travel, your symptoms in your new destination will differ. Eastward travel, where you "lose" time, will have different effects on your circadian rhythm than westward trave,l where you "gain" time.

Age also plays a factor in the severity of jet lag symptoms and the time it takes to recover. Older adults usually have more difficulty adjusting to time differences than younger adults and children.

Here are some common symptoms of jet lag:

Disturbed sleep

• Insomnia

• Daytime fatigue

• Difficulty concentrating

•Stress

• Confusion

• Trouble functioning

• Headaches

• Irritability

• Stomach problems such as indigestion or irregular bowel movements

• Traveling eastward can lead to poor sleep upon arrival and trouble falling asleep

• Traveling westward can lead to early awakenings, interrupted sleep, and frequent waking during sleep

Other factors present during travel can cause problems. Being cramped up during long flights can lead to leg, back, and other muscle discomfort.The pressurized air in the cabins of planes lowers the amounts of oxygen in the blood leading to headaches, dehydration, and a general discomfort.

Jet Lag Treatments

Fortunately for most travelers, jet lag is a temporary condition that can be quickly remedied and rarely requires professional intervention or therapy.

As a general rule of thumb, when traveling east it takes about one day of recovery for each time zone crossed, and half the amount of time for westward travel.

Jet lag has a maximum circadian rhythm disruption of up to twelve hours.

Tips for realignment

Adjust your schedule in advance. Before traveling begin by trying to adapt to the sleep patterns of your new destination. If traveling east, begin going to bed 30 minutes earlier each day until you're closely in sync with the bedtime of your future location. If traveling west, do the opposite by staying up a little later each night.

Arrive early. If traveling for work and want to be awake for important business, arrive at your destination early to give you more time to adjust to the new schedule.

Expose yourself to natural light. Your circadian rhythm is greatly influenced by sunlight exposure. Getting out into the daylight at key times can help you adjust your body clock much faster. When traveling west, expose yourself to outside light early in the mornings but avoid it during late afternoons and evenings. When traveling east, avoid early morning light, and expose yourself to late afternoon/evening light. Artificial light can also to treat jet lag in similar ways that it is used to treat shift work sleep disorder and seasonal affective disorder. However, if considering bright light therapy, discuss it with your doctor first to make sure you're getting the right amount of exposure at the right times.

Avoid alcohol and caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant and its effects can last much longer than desired making getting into a new sleep routine difficult. Alcohol makes you drowsy, and many believe that it helps induce sleep. While it's true that alcohol can aid in falling asleep, it often disturbs your sleep and reduces the quality of sleep with frequent awakenings and trips to the bathroom.

Take melatonin supplements. Melatonin is a hormone that is secreted by our bodies to help us fall asleep. Taking 3 milligrams of melatonin supplements approximately 3 hours before bedtime can help aid in falling asleep. However, not all research concludes that melatonin supplements are effective in treating jet lag. If you're considering using melatonin for jet lag treatment, ask your doctor for recommendations first.

Drink plenty of water. To avoid dehydration and headaches on long flights, keep yourself well hydrated by drinking plenty of water and avoiding alcohol and caffeine.

Use sleeping aids. If you're trying to sleep on the plane in anticipation of your new upcoming sleep schedule, try using blindfolds to block out light, earplugs to block out noise, and a neck pillow to get as comfortable as possible.

Consider medications. Talk to your doctor about taking medications that can promote wakefulness if trying to adapt to eastward travel, or sleep medications for westward travel.

For most travelers, jet lag is easily remedied after a few days in a new location. However, if your trip is only a few days long before you plan on returning home, it is often best to maintain your regular schedule so that you're not once again readjusting to a new time when you arrive back home shortly.

For frequent flyers, pilots, flight attendants, and airline crew, jet lag can become a recurring problem. If you fit into this category of flyers, you may want to consult with a sleep specialist. Sleep specialists are highly trained in helping people shift their circadian rhythms by offering advice and prescriptions for a variety of treatments including bright light therapy, melatonin supplements, and other medications.

https://www.alaskasleep.com/blog/jet-lag-sleep-disorder-symptoms-treatment-travel-fatigue?utm_campaign=Snoring%202014&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=71950778&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_vMdbaHGt4JsJaWFdFE2qYlNbaJg1fPhp3pasxaryUneNgKxoRNDwh_A1dx9ME6TKGlPcKdPHWS4HYU26RJ39-DWlK4w&_hsmi=71950778

The best and worst foods for getting sleep

Almost everybody is aware of the value that eating certain foods is instrumental in our daily lives. Eating the right foods gives us the energy we need to complete tasks, strengthen our immune system against diseases, improve cognitive functions, heal wounds, repair bones and tissues, help our children grow big strong, and basically everything else we need to live happy, healthy, productive lives. But too often healthy eating is rarely thought about when it comes to sleep. Here we hope to shed light on the amazing benefits that food can have in helping you get to sleep, and stay asleep, so that you wake feeling refreshed the next day, every day. Here are the best and worst foods for getting sleep:

There are four main vitamins and minerals that can be found in food that aid in promoting sleep: tryptophan, magnesium, calcium, and B6. Some of these substances help the body produce melatonin, the hormone that is responsible for regulating your circadian rhythm (sleep/wake patterns). When you're close to bedtime, melatonin production naturally increases to help you sleep. In the morning when you're ready to wake up, melatonin production tapers off to allow you to be awake and alert for the day.

Tryptophan is an amino acid that when ingested gets turned into the neurotransmitter serotonin and then converted into the hormone melatonin. Here are some some of the best foods loaded with tryptophan:

• Dairy products (milk, low-fat yogurt, cheese)
• Poultry (turkey, chicken)
• Seafood (shrimp, salmon, halibut, tuna, sardines, cod)
• Nuts and seeds (flax, sesame, pumpkin, sunflower, cashews, peanuts, almonds, walnuts)
• Legumes (kidney beans, lima beans, black beans split peas, chickpeas)
• Fruits (apples, bananas, peaches, avocado)
• Vegetables (spinach, broccoli, turnip greens, asparagus, onions, seaweed)
• Grains (wheat, rice, barley, corn, oats)

Magnesium is a powerful mineral that is instrumental in sleep and is a natural relaxant that helps deactivate adrenaline. A lack of magnesium can be directly linked to difficulty going and staying asleep. Magnesium is often referred to as the sleep mineral. Excellent sources of magnesium are:

• Dark leafy greens (baby spinach, kale, collard greens)
• Nuts and seeds (almonds, sunflower seeds, brazil nuts, cashews, pine nuts, flaxseed, pecans)
• Wheat germ
• Fish (salmon, halibut, tuna, mackerel)
• Soybeans
• Banana
• Avocados
• Low-fat yogurt

Calcium is another mineral that helps the brain make melatonin. A lack of calcium can cause you to wake up in the middle of the night and have difficulty returning to sleep. Calcium rich diets have been shown to help patients with insomnia. Dairy products that contain both tryptophan and calcium are among the best sleep inducers. Sources of calcium include:

• Dark leafy greens
• Low-fat milk
• Cheeses
• Yogurt
• Sardines
• Fortified cereals
• Soybeans
• Fortified orange juice
• Enriched breads and grains
• Green snap peas
• Okra
• Broccoli

Vitamin B6 also helps convert tryptophan into melatonin. A deficiency in B6 has been linked with lowered serotonin levels and poor sleep. A deficiency in B6 is also linked to symptoms of depression and mood disorders which can lead to insomnia. Highest sources of B6 are:

• Sunflower seeds
• Pistachio nuts
• Flaxseed
• Fish (tuna, salmon, halibut)
• Meat (chicken, tuna, lean pork, lean beef,)
• Dried Prunes
• Bananas
• Avocado
• Spinach

Many of the vitamins and minerals that are on this list are there because they help aid in the production of turning serotonin into melatonin. However, there are a few excellent sources of naturally occuring melatonin in foods:

• Fruits and vegetables (tart cherries, corn, asparagus, tomatoes, pomegranate, olives, grapes, broccoli, cucumber)
• Grains (rice, barley, rolled oats)
• Nuts and Seeds (walnuts, peanuts, sunflower seeds, mustard seeds, flaxseed)

It's not just foods that are great for sleep. Many drinks contain essential vitamins and minerals that help aid with sleep. A few of the ones to try are:

• Warm milk
• Almond milk
• Valerian tea
• Chamomile tea
• Tart cherry juice
• Passion fruit tea
• Peppermint tea

Worst foods for sleep

• Foods and drinks that contain caffeine
• Spicy foods
• Alcohol
• Foods high in fat
• Foods high in protein
• Foods containing water 
• Heavy meals before bedtime

https://www.alaskasleep.com/blog/foods-for-sleep-list-best-worst-foods-getting-sleep

Sleep and Memory

Memory and learning occur in three stages: acquisition, consolidation and recall. 

Acquisition is the stage in which you learn and understand new information, whether this is the taste of your grandmother’s cookies or the steps to solve a quadratic equation. 

Consolidation is the step in which your brain stores the information, incorporating it into your existing knowledge and,

Recall is the step in which you access information and memories that have been stored.

When we sleep, our brains take the information that we have learned throughout the day and store it carefully in the neurons and cells that fill our brains. Slow wave sleep, which is the deep sleep during which we become rested, is particularly important to the consolidation process in processing and storing new facts. REM sleep, the deep sleep phase in which we dream, is when emotional memories are consolidated.

What happens to your memories if you are not getting enough deep sleep? Prior studies have found that we do not store memories as effectively and thus may have trouble recalling information, even with diligent study. 

However, many people feel that they must give up a certain amount of sleep in order to learn. After all, you cannot acquire information (or in scientific terms, go through memory acquisition) in your sleep, can you? According to new research, learning in your sleep may actually be a possibility.

Several prior studies have looked at whether it is possible to learn while you are asleep. Researchers in Germany, for example, gave study participants a group of Dutch words to study late at night. One group was then kept awake to continue studying, while the other slept while listening to the words play softly. When the sleeping group was awoken, both groups were given a test on the Dutch words they had learned. The people who slept scored higher

Many people think of sleep as nonproductive time, a simple biological necessity. However, there are several indications that it can be a valuable time for learning. When people are in deep slow-wave sleep, they produce a type of brain wave called theta waves, which are seen when we are awake and actively learning. We may be able to learn new foreign languages or a wide variety of new information if exposed to information in the right way while we sleep. These new studies suggest that being awake is not essential to learning and building memories.

In addition, sleep helps people to pay attention throughout their day, acquiring more information to be later consolidated in slumber. The health effects of sleeping well are also undeniable. If you want to perform and learn up to your best potential, missing sleep is not the answer.

https://www.chronobiology.com/learning-in-your-sleep-reality-or-just-a-dream/

Intermittent Fasting: More Than a Diet Fad

Fasting is one of the world’s oldest practices, used both for health and religious reasons over several millennia. Ascetics routinely gave up food and even water for days in search of meaningful change and insight. Intermittent fasting is slightly different from traditional fasting because people give up calories for shorter, well-defined periods of time. In the most popular type of intermittent fasting, users fast for 16 hours of the day and eat for the remaining eight.

The benefits of this style of eating are many, which is why it is steadily growing in popularity. People often lose dramatic amounts of weight, even when eating similar amounts of calories. Many people have seen their blood pressure and cholesterol lowered to safe and healthy levels. People with type 2 diabetes and other metabolic diseases also appear to have benefits. Even people who are otherwise healthy report positive health effects, such as increased energy, better sleep and improved digestive health.

How can simply changing the times when you eat have such dramatic health benefits? According to new research, the secret lies in the effects of intermittent fasting on the body’s internal clocks.

Our diet, especially the times when we eat, can affect our circadian rhythm in a variety of ways. Food stimulates insulin production, which in turn can activate different genes linked to internal clocks. In addition, eating stimulates our internal microbiome, the bacteria that live in our digestive tracts. These bacteria in turn release hormones and other biochemicals that can stimulate wakefulness or sleepiness.

According to new research, intermittent fasting may affect health and circadian clocks in more dramatic and previously unknown ways. Researchers looked at how periods of fasting affected mice.

Researchers divided mice into two groups: one that was placed on an intermittent fasting diet and one that had food available all the time. These mice ate the same amount of calories and fats. Despite this, the unrestricted eating group gained weight rapidly while the intermittent fasting group did not.

Muscle cells have two different modes to acquire energy. When glucose from food is readily available, insulin “unlocks” cell receptors so it can flood into muscle cells and power their activities. When glucose is in short supply, the liver produces ketones from fatty acids, which are then used to fuel muscle. Producing ketones causes a distinct shift in the metabolism of cells throughout the human body. Its effects on the circadian rhythm are particularly dramatic.

Mice who underwent intermittent fasting had larger oscillations in the activity of the genes that govern circadian rhythm. This means that they were biochemically primed to sleep better during their sleeping periods and were more wakeful during the day. Researchers believe that this is due to the effects of ketones on certain circadian genes. Regardless of the cause, it is apparent that intermittent fasting can lead to a stronger and more rhythmic circadian rhythm.

https://www.chronobiology.com/intermittent-fasting-affects-circadian-rhythm-says-new-study/

Exposure to LED lights could be harmful; scientists suggest a simple solution

In light of the harmful effects of radiations from LEDs, many manufacturers are taking a serious note and moving towards innovation.

Light emitting diode (LED) lights are becoming popular in India by the day as they are less expensive and more efficient. The Indian LED lighting market was worth US $3.7 billion in 2016 and the sector grew by 17.5 per cent between 2009 and 2016. But their health impacts have been largely out of public domain. 

In 2016, the American Medical Association (AMA) said that LED technology may impact human health. LED lights emit light from the short-wave, high-energy blue and violet end of the visible light spectrum. This light range controls our sleep cycle and correct exposure is important to maintain our circadian rhythm. Little wonder that many people complain of itchiness, redness in the eyes and mild headaches after continuous exposure to LED lights. The AMA says that life-long exposure of the retina and lens to blue peaks from LEDs can increase the risk of cataract and age-related macular degeneration. Studies also reveal that light emitted by LEDs can cause retinal changes, if there is high exposure for even a short period of time. 

A 2014 study published in Environmental Health Perspectives reported the adverse effects on the retina of rats due to chronic exposure to LED lights compared with other light sources that have less blue light. These researchers suggested a precautionary approach with regard to the use of blue-rich “white” LEDs for general lighting. Satya Karna, a consultant neuro-ophthalmologist with the Narayana Nethralaya, Bengaluru, says the lens and cornea have inherent ultraviolet light blocking, but with age some light, including blue peaks, can reach the retina and cause damage.

A study, which will be published in Vision Research in September this year, suggests that LED lights can cause headaches as they flicker too much. Compared to fluorescent lights which dim by around 35 per cent with every flicker, LED lights dim by 100 per cent. This can cause headaches by disrupting the movement control of the eyes, forcing the brain to work harder. 

Innovation at hand

Monto Mani, an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Science’s (IISc’s) Centre for Sustainable Technology in Bengaluru, had a tryst with LED lights not so long ago. “While working with fine artwork/tools under LED lights, my students complained of intense eye strain and a diminished clarity. On one occasion, while working under LED lights for about 20 minutes, I developed an uncharacteristic pain in the upper part of the eye (ball) which nearly lasted till the next morning. We then decided to find a solution to the problem,” says Mani.

Mani and his team tested most of the commercially available LED luminaire with a spectroradiometer and found the blue peak to be unnaturally high and very unlike the natural indoor light. Finally, through some quirk of intuition, Mani tested the lights after applying Kapton tape, a polyimide film that can remain stable across a wide range of temperatures. "To everyone’s delight, it did the job so well that one would even be convinced that these tapes were developed only to cut the blue peak. So much so, that our lab has all our LED lights with Kapton, and everyone who visits our lab feels that these lights feel good," says Mani.

In light of the harmful effects of these radiations, many manufacturers are taking a serious note of blue peaks from LEDs and are moving towards warmer LEDs without the blue peaks. Most warm LED lights, 4,000 K and even 2,700 K, still emit an uneasy blue peak, but are much subdued from the cool daylight 6,000 K variants. 

Experts recommend the blocking of blue light in the 415-455 nanometres (nm) spectrum in LED lighting for commercial use. Experimental evidence indicates that exposure to blue light in the range of 470–490 nm may be less damaging to the eye compared to blue light in the 400–460 nm range. Experts say that the development of LEDs with a peak emission of around 470–490 nm may represent an important advancement in the safety of LEDs for ocular health.

As LED lights are spreading rapidly in India, it is imperative to review their health impacts. This is also because many government programmes are pushing LED lighting, including the Union government’s Prakash Path programme, launched in January 2015 for efficient domestic lighting. There is a national programme for LED-based home and street lighting, and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) too has launched a nationwide campaign under which LED lights will replace the incandescent bulbs to promote energy-efficient lighting. 

But for the common consumer, it may be wise to replicate Mani’s innovation. As he says, “We wanted to empower the common man with a simple and cost-effective DIY (do-it-yourself) technique to render the currently available lighting, as well as those who have already purchased and installed, safer for human (and wildlife) eyes.” IISc has, in fact, implemented Mani’s application for lighting up the campus and positive feedback is pouring in.

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/environment/exposure-to-led-lights-could-be-harmful-scientists-suggest-a-simple-solution-58544

International Symposium on Biological Rhythms organized by The Indian Society of Chronobiology

International Symposium on Biological Rhythms (in conjunction with the Biennial meeting of Indian Society for Chronobiology)
	Organised by Department of Zoology, Ch. Charan Singh University, Meerut & The Indian Society for Chronobiology (InSC) 11-13 March, 2019, Meerut, India

Convener: Professor Sanjay Kumar Bhardwaj

Broad Topics of the Workshop/ Symposium

• Biological clocks, ecosystem and conservation
• Genetic aspects of circadian and circannual timing
• Comparative Clocks
• Impact of ‘modern’ lifestyle in humans
• Cognition and behaviour
• Photoperiodism and Seasonality
• Sleep and its circadian relevance

For more details: http://chronobiologyindia.org/international-symposium/